The MET PUTS ON PUNK EXTRAVAGANZA (c) By Polly Guerin

Karl Lagerfeld for House of Chanel: potograher: David Sims

Just what exactly defines the punk era? Is it anarchy, rebellion or a do-it-yourself venue that continues to engage and excite our imagination? In this compelling and outrageous exhibition, “PUNK: Chaos and Couture,” May 9 to August 14 at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, curator Andrew Bolton argues high fashion has adopted punk style more than any other counter cultural movement. The exhibition examines punk’s impact on high fashion from the movement’s birth in the 1970s through its continuing influence today.
PUNK’S ORIGIN Since its origins, punk has had an incendiary influence on fashion,” said Mr. Bolton. Punk began in the mid-1970s as youth movement centered on the music scene at New York, CBGB club and then moved to London and there it grew full blown and fashion-focused with designers Vivienne Westwood at the helm. Punk broke all the rules in a time when originality was celebrated and championed the individual’s individuality. The museum explores this visually with 100 designs for men and women.
COMPARISON VIEWS Original pink garments from the mid-1970s are juxtaposed with recent, directional fashion to illustrate how haute couture and ready-to-wear have borrowed punk’s visual symbols, with paillettes being replaced by safety pins, feathers with razor blades, and bugle beads with studs, and other hardware. The exhibit is organized around the materials, techniques and embellishments associated with the anti-establishment style.
GALLERY PRESENTATIONS The seven galleries, organized thematically have designated punk heroes. The first gallery is devoted to CBGB represented by Blondie, Richard Hell, The Ramones and Patti Smith., Next gallery is inspired by Malcolm McClaren and Vivienne Westwood and their Seditionaries boutique in London. The Clothes for Heroes examines designers who extend the visual language of punk, as it was originally articulated by McClaren and Westwood. Do-it-yourself, punk’s contribution to high fashion is explored in the four final galleries focus on couture’s use of studs, spikes, chains, zippers, padlocks, safety pins and razor blade with Sid Vicious as its icon.
MUSIC and VIDEOS Presented as an immersive multimedia, multisensory experience, the clothes are animated with period music videos and soundscaping audio techniques; original punk pieces and videos showing punk icons wearing their infamous looks. The designers include Versace, Balenciaga, Dolce & Gabbana and Karl Lagerfeld. It is interesting to note the couture and punk had value handcrafted, individual pieces. Bolton said, “Just as couture has made-to-measure one of a kind garments, punk would take a leather jacket and customize it so that you are the only person in the world who wears it.”

A BOOK, PUNK; CHAOS TO COUTURE, BY ANDREW BOLTON WITH PREFACES BY THREE PUNK ORIGINALS, RICHARD HELL, JOHN LYDON (a.k.a. Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols) AND JON SAVAGE EACH CONTRIBUTE WITH ENLIGHTENING AND FASCINATING ESSAYS ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS OF VINTAGE PUNKS AND HIGH FASHION. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art.