Oh the irony. OH the irony.There is a wonderful article in The Independent today about a war being fought between Malcom McLaren, (the creator of the Sex Pistols) artist Damien Hirst, and a man called Simon Easton. What is this battle; copyright infringement, political differences? Nope. The root of the ballyhoo is an e-commerce scam that one of the most popular modern artists of the decade fell for, hook, line and sinker.
It turns out that last year Damien Hirst bought 80K Pounds worth of punk clothing from Mr. Easton’s Punk Pistol website. The clothes were supposed to be originals of McLaren and Vivienne Westwood’s 1975-79 punk collection.
That’s a lot of torn up t-shirts and bondage pants.
In the 70s punk fashion first emerged in London on the backs of about 200 people who defined themselves as anti-fashion urban youth. It closely aligned with the punk music movement. The clothes suited the lifestyle of those with limited cash due to unemployment and the general low income school dropouts and students often experience. Punks cut up old clothes from thrift shops, destroyed the fabric and refashioned outfits in a manner then thought a crude construction technique, making garments designed to attract attention. Tattered edges and ripped holes were patched together with ragged stitches and safety pins. McLaren and Westwood were cornerstones of the anti-fashion movement, creating the famous “God Save the Queen” t-shirt that is synonymous with the Sex Pistols and punk movement.
McLaren apparently took one look at Hirst’s collection and damned them as complete forgeries. They were made of fabrics that weren’t even available in the 70s and the stitching was completely different than the style that McLaren and Westwood used. McLaren told the New York Daily News: “I felt terrible, but they were fakes. We simply didn’t make that many. I mean, we literally made these clothes on my kitchen floor. They were each unique.”
In the 70s punk fashion first emerged in London on the backs of about 200 people who defined themselves as anti-fashion urban youth. It closely aligned with the punk music movement. The clothes suited the lifestyle of those with limited cash due to unemployment and the general low income school dropouts and students often experience. Punks cut up old clothes from thrift shops, destroyed the fabric and refashioned outfits in a manner then thought a crude construction technique, making garments designed to attract attention. Tattered edges and ripped holes were patched together with ragged stitches and safety pins. McLaren and Westwood were cornerstones of the anti-fashion movement, creating the famous “God Save the Queen” t-shirt that is synonymous with the Sex Pistols and punk movement.
McLaren apparently took one look at Hirst’s collection and damned them as complete forgeries. They were made of fabrics that weren’t even available in the 70s and the stitching was completely different than the style that McLaren and Westwood used. McLaren told the New York Daily News: “I felt terrible, but they were fakes. We simply didn’t make that many. I mean, we literally made these clothes on my kitchen floor. They were each unique.”
Of course Mr. Easton says that they’re not fakes and points out that the Sex and Seditionaires (the boutiques started by McLaren and Westwood) sold their garments via mail order after 1979 and through the Boy shop on London’s Kings Road.So where’s the rub? Hirst got scammed-that’s his deal-right? Wrong. Apparently, Easton wrote a book about clothes sold through Sex and Seditionares shops and McLaren wrote an introduction for the book-which it turns out, is full of images of the fake clothes from Hirst’s collection. McLaren has approached the books publisher and told them to remove his name and essay from the book.
See the irony? McLaren is now a hugely wealthy man (as is Westwood). The complete opposite of everything they stood for in their angry punk days. They ARE the man. And the man is getting scammed. A scam, I might add, that they would have most certainly rolled on the floor about when they were in their late-teens and early 20’s and have thumbed their noses and thrown a bottle at just for good measure.
I love irony. And of course, Damien Hirst, The Sex Pistols and most of all the jaded and mean British Press. (I’m just glad they don’t have their guns pointed at me.)
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