Punk in Fashion and Marketing Strategies of the Contemporary Capitalist Societies - Essay Example

Young people wore punk clothes either because they intended to mock authority or because they liked and preferred to wear such clothes (Brake 1985). Punk culture laid stress on being creative and trying out new things (Brake 1985). It involved coloring hair and wearing clothes that were the hallmark of the punk movement. Punk culture had a great influence on contemporary fashion.

Some of the essential staples of punk fashion included leather jackets most often accessorized with pictures and embossments of punk band logos, pins, studs, and innovative patches (Muggleton 2005). Other quintessential accouterments of punk fashion were tight-fitting stretchable jeans and shorts, heavy denim jackets most often adorned with patches, studs, pins and band logos, creepers, bondage pants, Doc Martens, etc (Muggleton 2005). The whole objective of punk fashion was to mock the established conventions and stereotypes of modesty and to accentuate the intention of not being able to adapt to or fit in mainstream society (Childs & Storry 1999). Punk fashion also adopted certain specific and peculiar hairstyles like buzzcuts, short and spiky, liberty spikes, and mohawks (Childs & Storry 1999). Though the punk fatigue represented a tough persona, the punk culture was on the contrary very accommodating and open-minded.

The primary focus of punk fashion was on rebutting the excesses and pretensions inherent in mainstream fashion by affiliating to peculiar clothing, body modifications, hairstyles, jewelry, and cosmetics (Lamphier 2007). Punk fashion was definitively influenced by the style and dress codes of various other art movements and subcultures like mods, glam rock, skinheads, greasers, and rude boys (Whalen & Flacks 1989). It would not be wrong to say that punk fashion also influenced many other art movements, subcultures, and fashion trends (Whalen & Flacks 1989). The primary intention of the punk fashion and dressing code was to use fashion to make a statement (Whalen & Flacks 1989).

The influential British fashion designer of the 70s, Vivienne Westwood is considered to be the mother of punk fashion (Roger 1999). Vivienne was closely associated with the subculture of fashion and dress codes and youth movements like punk having moorings in the constrained and difficult economic and socio-political conditions prevailing in the UK in the 70s (Roger 1999). Westwood forged a partnership with McLaren to design and market fashion inspired by a punk vision (McRobbie 1994). Punk ideology is no doubt an important constituent of late 20th-century postmodern fashion, quite evident in the works of contemporary designers like Martin Margiela and Rei Kawakubo (The Metropolitan Museum of Art 2011).

Sad to say that though punk fashion has not gone totally out of style, it has ended up becoming a victim of the mass marketing strategies of contemporary capitalist societies. Read More