LCM: Paul Smith celebrates forty years of punk

London Collections Men begins on Thursday with Sir Paul Smith celebrating the 40th anniversary of punk. An event showcasing the work by British photograph Derek Ridgers will take place at the Paul Smith boutique on Albemarle Street and is open to the public.

The emergence of punk rock in the late 1970S fascinated Ridgers and among his first published work were pictures taken on a second-hand Nikkormat at the Hammersmith Palais, which hosted punk nights. During this time he photographed a very early Adam and the Ants, The Slits, Penetration, The Clash and The Damned, which culminated into an exhibition at London's ICA in 1978.

But punk was as much about subculture and fashion as it was music. Early punk fashion adapted everyday objects for aesthetic effect: ripped clothing was held together by safety pins or wrapped with tape; ordinary clothing was customised by embellishing it with marker or adorning it with paint; a black bin liner became a dress, shirt or skirt; safety pins and razor blades were used as jewellery. Also popular have been leather, rubber, and vinyl clothing that the general public associates with transgressive sexual practices like bondage and S&M.

Dame Vivienne Westwood began her career making clothes for Malcolm McLaren's boutique in the King's Road, which became famous as "SEX".

To coincide with the exhibition Paul Smith will be releasing an exclusive run of limited edition t-shirts featuring Ridgers’ seminal photographs. Prints of the artwork and signed copies of Derek Ridgers’ new book Punk London 1977 will also be on sale.

Derek Ridgers photography