MALCOLM MCLAREN - RENEGADES OF FASHION Series

Written by Charlie O'Brien & Paul G Roberts Edited by Chantelle Japardi Narrated by Annalisa Piccio Malcolm McLaren was a promoter, an anarchist, and the man who brought punk to the forefront of mainstream culture. He was partners with the great Vivienne Westwood in the infamous boutique at London’s 430 Kings Road, London. The boutique would undergo several transformations under the watchful eye of McLaren, but originally it was named Let It Rock, selling the rockabilly aesthetic of drape jackets, drainpipe trousers and brothel creeper shoes – a style popularised by the Teddy Boy subculture at the time. By 1973 the store had been renamed - Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die – and shifted from rockabilly to the greaser fashions popularised in the 1950s. McLaren was proving himself a shrewd promoter: each directional change drove the boutique to greater heights of success. But it wasn’t until 1974 that McLaren injected his personal mantra of dysfunction into the store and cemented his legacy as the man who brought punk to the masses. The origins of the punk rock movement began in New York. McLaren and Westwood had been making periodic trips there since the early 1970s, exhibiting their clothes and strengthening their connection to the New York underground. McLaren in particular had become fascinated with the anarchistic principles and radical fashion of the protopunk movement, forming relationships with trailblazing bands like the New York Dolls and Richard Hell of Tele