
Claire Tole-Moir
Head of Department
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Sold for £4,845 inc. premium
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Head of Department
Provenance:
This and the following five lots were all acquired by the vendor in the 70s/80s. His father taught printmaking at the Central School of Art & Design at the time and one of his students, Alex McDowell, printed shirts at the vendor's home from 1976 onwards for a period of time for Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren. The vendor was 14 when he first saw the Sex Pistols at the Notre Dame Hall in 1976 and from then on accumulated the items in this auction - usually influenced by things that Alex was involved with, for example, the start-up of i-D magazine.
Parachute shirts were designed by Westwood and McLaren in the autumn of 1976, as plans were made to transform their shop, 'Sex', into 'Seditionaries', described by McLaren as the 'ultimate punk enclave'. These strappy tops were part of a new range including bondage trousers, jackets and boots and were originally in black sateen and hard-wearing cotton. By spring 1977 they were produced in brushed cotton in single colours but with elements such as cuffs and sleeves in different colours, such as the example offered here. Photographs by Toro Kogure of Paul Cook and Steve Jones taken in Wessex Sound Studio in May 1977 show them wearing similar tops.
Bonhams is grateful to fashion consultant Paul Gorman for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.