It’s rare to find people who have managed to live a life grounded in nonconformity and honesty. So when we find them, why not celebrate them? Why not rejoice in the Renegades like Vivienne Westwood, Malcolm McLaren and Jordan Mooney, who supported each other in their spirit of self-determination.
Two of the top five regrets of the dying according to Bronnie Ware’s bestselling book The Top Five Regrets of the Dying are: “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself…” and “I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings…” They are not regrets shared by all, as it was this unity in individualism, and the collaboration between fashion and music that helped ignite the ‘Punk Movement’. Now, Katie Baron has released Fashion + Music: Fashion Creatives Shaping Pop Culture, focusing on “some of the industry’s most significant and era-defining pairings/collaborations.”
Included is Jordan Mooney, who was an inner member of the Westwood-McLaren circle, and worked at their historic SEX clothing shop. An icon in her own right, her role within the revolutionary Punk world saw her also manage the Ants in their early stages, and perform with the Sex Pistols.
With Westwood’s news that she is uniting her menswear and womenswear lines, and Punk’s 40th birthday approaching, there’s no better time to rejoice in its legacy. It’s frightening to imagine what could have been without the influence of these key individuals. But for Mooney, it was always meant to be. She first stepped into SEX with a feeling of undeniable fate. Despite an overall atmosphere of “foreboding” that accompanied the dim, graffiti-covered shop, Mooney knew she was where she was meant to be. Interviewed by Baron, she says “I knew I would be working there, without a doubt.”
The shop was more than just business, and Mooney knew it. A commendable feature of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren is that they’ve never been about monetary gain. They were concerned about the clothes, the statement it made, and the attitude it projected.
Mooney was in sync with the designers in recognising the garments as “works of art”. Rather than subscribing to the popular philosophy of mass-production and commercialisation, the clothes sold at SEX were cherished as manifestations of Westwood’s hard work and genius.
Because of this, Mooney gained a reputation as an unapproachable and severe gatekeeper of the shop, only letting customers buy an item if she deemed them deserving. Interrogating their motives, Mooney would not allow clothes to be bought simply because they had money to spend: “it would have been bastardising something beautiful just for the money.”
More than beauty though, Westwood and Malcolm McLaren were concerned with expressing an attitude. Pioneers of the punk movement, they were true Renegades in all things, not simply fashion. This spirit was one that was shared by Mooney, who famously wore their controversial clothes, even when it sparked debate. One such occasion was during a Television broadcast of the Sex Pistols on the UK show So It Goes. Mooney says she was brought in to “lend some weight to the performance, to cause a bit of shit.” She certainly did, by wearing the Anarchy shirt, complete with swastika armband.
While it caused an uproar at the time, her act of defiance still embodies the Punk attitude of strength through confidence. As Mooney herself says, she didn’t feel brave wearing outrageous clothes, because she just didn’t care.
Punk is the home of the outsider, a non-exclusive, non-judgemental zone where even outcasts are made to feel comfortable. “Also, punk didn’t put any perimeters on you in terms of your size, how tall or how beautiful you were,” Mooney explains. It’s a true spirit of originality – to be unique and to be equal and to be free.
In a time where chains stores line the streets, and perfectionism is often advertised as the ultimate goal, the Punk message is still as relevant as ever. No matter who holds it, the Anarchist’s flag will always fly, free to float however it chooses.
