‘Ultimate internationalist, cultural provocateur…’ Constable to publish my book Malcolm McLaren: The Biography
The Bookseller has announced that British imprint Constable is to publish my book Malcolm McLaren: The Biography.
Category: Malcolm McLaren
That’ll Be The Day: How Ringo ended up in a Teddy Girl’s drape jacket from Let It Rock
In the autumn of 1972 the small King’s Road boutique Let It Rock, which had been open for less than a year, received a fillip when the owners Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood were asked to contribute costumes to the production of 50s Britrock movie That’ll Be The Day.
Ben Kelly aka The Photo Kid outside Sex, 430 King’s Road, World’s End, 1975
I’m featuring this image of designer Ben Kelly in his persona of The Photo Kid in my presentation about the design history of 430 at the symposium Dead Or Alive: Popular Culture & The Interior, which takes place today at London’s ICA.
Jaunty: Barry Plummer’s striking photos of Malcolm McLaren + Vivienne Westwood in the Wild West End spring 1979
These jaunty photographs were taken by Barry Plummer in the spring of 1979 for a Melody Maker interview with Malcolm McLaren about the just-released soundtrack for the Sex Pistols’ biopic The Great Rock N Roll Swindle (beset by financial and creative difficulties, the film wasn’t released for another year). McLaren was accompanied by Vivienne Westwood; […]
Homage to Ben Kelly’s Seditionaries facade in Vuitton’s High Tech A/W 15 show
Amid the references to the late Christopher Nemeth in today’s Paris show of the Louis Vuitton A/W 15 menswear collection (see my last post), artistic director Kim Jones used the staging to pay subtle homage to the two great maverick figures of London street culture – namely Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood and specifically their […]
George Cox: The origins of the Diano brothel creeper + samples ordered by Malcolm McLaren in 1973
//Left, Saint Laurent point-toed patent brothel creepers, A/W 2014. Right: George Cox Buckle Diano made to the 1950s last// Last season’s foregrounding by Saint Laurent of the pointed brothel creeper is just one of a run of examples of fashion brands plugging into the purity of this quintessentially British rock & roll style minted in […]
Of ties and men: The neckwear connection between Bryan Ferry, Malcolm McLaren and David Parkinson
//Malcolm McLaren, 1973. Photo: David Parkinson. Bryan Ferry, 1976. Photo Richard Wallis// A couple of years back I showed examples of photography by the late David Parkinson to car-nut graphic design maestro Jules Balme; I knew he would be interested in the incorporation of a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado in a 1973 Let It Rock fashion […]
Curating: Art In Pop – including the Malcolm McLaren show – open for another month
“More than anyone, Malcolm McLaren bursts the definitions as to what exactly constitutes an artist.” Yves Aupetitallot, curator at Magasin, the Centre National d’Art Contemporain, in the introduction to Art In Pop Due to popular demand, the run of Art In Pop – the French exhibition about the intermingling of artistic practice with popular music […]
‘My records are about genuine fanatics, unstoppable, irresponsible lovers – I dedicate this album to fans of rock & roll’ Malcolm McLaren on Fans 1984
This album is titled Fans. It’s about wearing your emotion on your sleeve, just as fans scream out from the audience or want to get on stage so they can kiss him or are terrified they’re going to have a nervous breakdown if he don’t come round the corner and sit beside them. They all […]
Desirable ties + lots more from East London’s exuberant EsDes
I’m really proud of my niece Esme Bradbury, whose exuberant handmade designs via her label EsDes have received a boost with inclusion at the Craft Council’s Established East London pop up shop at Westfield Stratford.