Let It Rock
In 1971, Westwood and McLaren took over a second-hand denim shop at 430 King’s Road called Paradise Garage. Renaming it ‘Let It Rock’, they dedicated the store to the British youth subculture, Teddy Boys. Items sold included 1950s rock and roll records and memorabilia, customised t-shirts with subversive slogans and images, and Westwood also gradually began to produce her own line of garments for sale at the shop.
Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die
A year later, the store’s name changed and went into the direction of biker fashion. It carried items full of zips, studs, and leather. Sure, the early seventies saw hippie fashion dominate, but Westwood and McLaren looked to youth cultures of the past and here carved out what became their own trends.
Sex
The leather aspect of the previous years evolved and in 1974, the boutique was now called ‘Sex’. The couple embraced fetish wear, bondage, and sexual taboos, stocking items made of rubber and PVC, many of which were customised by Westwood. Their t-shirts too became louder and more provocative, most notably a top depicting two cowboys naked from waist to boots, so outrageous that it led to ‘Sex’ getting raided by police and the pair charged with ‘indecent exhibition’.
Seditionaries
The next phase of the store was ‘Seditionaries’. In 1976, Westwood brought together styles from number 430’s previous lives: strappy bondage-wear, leather, zips, chains and ripped, frayed fabrics. She also started incorporating tartans. ‘Sex’ and ‘Seditionaries’ shaped the punk wave, and influential band The Sex Pistols were devotedly clad in their designs.
Worlds End
Westwood and McLaren’s final boutique venture was ‘Worlds End’ in 1980, and this is the store as we know it today. 1981’s Pirate collection marked their first mainstream fashion show, and heralded the arrival of the New Romantics style of that decade. After Pirate, Westwood and McLaren’s relationship dissolved and Westwood’s career as a leading fashion designer fully took off.
Today, the Worlds End Collection is a range of iconic Vivienne Westwood unisex pieces (including Bondage Trousers, kilts and slogan tee-shirts) that are made using leftover production fabrics from previous seasons. Created with waste in mind, pieces are produced in limited runs, with quantities based on the amount of left-over fabrics available.
