“Within the slippery divides between disciplines and media – fashion, art, music, interiors, commerce – one finds Malcolm McLaren, roaming and creating.”
Lou Stoppard in her essay in The Life & Times Of Malcolm McLaren

Disruption to the publication of a book is extremely small beer at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has set the world in disarray, so I’m sanguine about the postponement of several events and signings which were due to occur around the publication of my biography The Life & Times Of Malcolm McLaren.

//The back of the book jacket features this 1976 portrait by photographer Joe Stevens//

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Tags: CBS Theatrical Films, Fashion Beast, Joe Stevens, Lou Stoppard, Malcolm McLaren, Peter McLaren, Tracey Winwood

In October 1974 Malcolm McLaren conjured an unusual group name for four young musicians who congregated at his shop at 430 King’s Road.

//The group name as it appeared on the ‘right’ side of the You’re Gonna Wake Up t-shirt//

At the time the transition from the premises’ previous incarnation as Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die to Sex was nearing completion; in fact the teenagers Paul Cook, Steve Jones, Glen Matlock (who was also a sales assistant on Saturdays) and Wally Nightingale assisted McLaren in applying the finishing touch with the erection of the pink vinyl shop sign constructed at his direction by carpenter Vic Mead.

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Tags: Alan Moore, Archie Shepp, Bernard Rhodes, Bob Marley, Bryan Ferry, Continental Keyholes, Continental Kuties, Eddie Cochran, Gerry Goldstein, Glen Matlock, Iggy Pop, James Brown, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, King Tubby’s Sound System, Kutie Jones and his Sex Pistols, Lou Stoppard, Marianne Faithfull, New Musical Express, Nick Kent, Paul Cook, QT, Sam Cooke, Steve Jones, Vic mead, Wally Nightingale

//T-shirt from the first run produced by Malcolm McLaren in March 1976. Photo courtesy Bonhams//

“This was my first attempt at making a Sex Pistols T-shirt. I wanted to create something of a stir”
Malcolm McLaren, 2005

An extremely rare and controversial T-shirt from the first run produced by Malcolm McLaren in the early spring of 1976 for the new group he managed, the Sex Pistols, is up for sale tomorrow at London auctioneers Bonhams.

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Tags: Alan Moore, Babalu, Bernard Rhodes, Bonhams, Don Busby, El Paradise, Finchley Road, Glen Matlock, Jordan Mooney, Lou Stoppard, Lynn Procter, Sex Pistols, Smoking Boy, Ted Polhemus, The Clash

//From the series Skelmersdale, 1984. Photograph by Stephen McCoy//

//Derrin Crawford & Demi-Leigh Cruickshank, The Liver Birds, LOVE, 2012. Photograph by Alice Hawkins//

//Raf Simons menswear Autumn Winter 2003, Paris Menswear Fashion Week. Copyright Catwalking.com//

Here is a selection of amazing images featured in new exhibition North: Identity, Photography, Fashion, which is open to the public from today at Liverpool’s Open Eye Gallery.

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Tags: Adam Murray, Alasdair McLellan, Alice Hawkwins, Brett Dee, Demi-Leigh Cruickshank, Derrin Crawford, Doncaster, i-D, Liverpool, Lou Stoppard, Love, Manchester, Open Eye Gallery, Raf Simons, Skelmersdale, Stephen McCoy

//Mannequin, New Power Studio, Autumn/Winter 2010 – Spring/Summer 2012. Wall: Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield, 1995-2001, Jason Evans//

//Set design, Tony Hornecker, 2016. Film: Stylist Simon Foxton discusses growing up in Berwick-upon-Tweed, produced in collaboration with SHOWstudio, 2016//

I am very grateful to curators Adam Murray and Lou Stoppard for these exclusive installation shots from their exciting exhibition North: Identity, Photography, Fashion, which opens in a couple of hours at Liverpool’s Open Eye Gallery.

Exploring the influence of England’s northern cities and landscape on fashion and visual culture, the show presents the work of such vital image-makers as Alasdair McLellan – who has created his first film installation for public display at North – as well as Jamie Hawkesworth, Glen Luchford and Nick Knight.

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Tags: Adam Murray, Ben Kelly, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Christopher Shannon, Glen Luchford, Haçienda, Humphrey Jennings, Humphrey Spender, Jamie Hawkesworth, Jason Evans, Jeremy Deller, John Skelton, Kate Phelan, Lou Stoppard, Mark Leckey, New Power Studio, Nick Knight, Open Eye Gallery, Raf Simons, Showstudio, Simon Foxton, Tim Walker, Virgil Abloh

//David Bowie with Derek Boshier and his daughters Lily and Rosa, 1993. Courtesy Derek Boshier. No reproduction without permission//

To mark the publication of my piece about Derek Boshier’s creative collaborations with David Bowie in this month’s British GQ, here is a photograph taken when the rock star visited the artist and his family at his home outside London in the early 90s.

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Tags: David Bowie, Jeremy Corbyn, Lou Stoppard, NME, Tony Parsons

//Central Saint Martins student poster feature college head Jeremy Till//

//Discussing the McLaren/Westwood fashion legacy with writers Lou Stoppard and Dean Mayo Davies//

//Neville Brody’s logo for the 2016 celebration was unveiled for the first time at our event on Friday//

Our event Be Reasonable Demand The Impossible on Friday night was an out-and-out success, attended by hundreds from all walks of life, including students of London’s Central Saint Martins for whom it was primarily organised.

We were honoured that the London Mayor’s Office selected Be Reasonable to unveil Punk London,  the year-long calendar of exhibitions, gigs and events in the capital in 2016.

More details will be forthcoming at the end of the month; the GLA’s ‘cultural partner’ Marcus Davey of Camden venue The Roundhouse gave a few hints and showed for the first time the logo designed by graphic artist Neville Brody.

//Brighton students sold Beck + Cornford’s No Future t-shirts//

//Page from McLaren’s mid-70s notebook shown as part of Paul Burgess’ presentation//

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Tags: Bazooka Joe, Caz Facey, Central Saint Martins, Claire Barrow, Danny Kleinman, Dean Mayo Davies, Ged Matthews, Glen Matlock, Jeremy Till, John Beck, Johnny Deluxe, Lou Stoppard, Matthew Cornford, Mike Clewley, Paul Burgess, Peter Culshaw, Phin Harper, Sebastian Conran, Sex Pistols, St Martin's School Of Art

//Ben Reardon, Lou Stoppard + Dean Mayo Davies. Photos: Diane Pernet, Nik Hartley + SHOWstudio//

//Stills from Savages and Nostalgia Of Mud McLaren/Westwood catwalk collections, staged October 1981 and March 1982 respectively. Courtesy Malcolm McLaren Estate//

The cream of British fashion journalism – Dean Mayo Davies, Ben Reardon and Lou Stoppard – will be discussing the indomitable body of design work produced by Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood at tomorrow’s event Be Reasonable Demand The Impossible.

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Tags: Ben Reardon, Dean Mayo Davies, Duck Rock, Lou Stoppard, Man About Town, Nik Hartley, Nostalgia Of Mud, Pompidou Centre, Savages, Showstudio

It’s flattering to receive praise from a tastemaker of the standing of Gary Warnett, who has posted on his Gwarizm blog about my recent cult magazine chat with SHOWStudio editor Lou Stoppard for her Print project.

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Tags: 19, Blitz, Club International, Gary Warnett, Gwarizm, i-D, Interview, Lou Stoppard, NME, Print, Rags, Ritz, Showstudio, Street Life, The Face, West One

//Front cover, Lipstick, 1979//

The next instalment of SHOWStudio’s cult magazine series PRINT is an interview with photographer Perry Ogden about the extraordinary circumstances which led him to launch the style magazine Lipstick while he was an 18-year-old attendee at Eton College.

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Tags: Andy Warhol, David Bailey, Diana Vreeland, Lipstick, Lou Stoppard, Perry Ogden, Print, Showstudio