Sex (boutique)
| Location | London, England |
|---|---|
| Owner |
Malcolm McLaren Vivienne Westwood |
| Type | Boutique |
| Opened | 1974 |
| Closed | 1976 |
Sex was a boutique run by Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood at 430 King's Road, London between 1974 and 1976. It specialized in clothing that defined the look of the punk movement.
In October 1971, Malcolm McLaren and a friend from art school, Patrick Casey, opened a stall in the back of the Paradise Garage boutique at 430 King's Road in London's Chelsea district. On sale were items collected by McLaren over the previous year, including rock & roll records, magazines, clothing and memorabilia from the 1950s. From 1969–70, No. 430 was the premises of Mr Freedom.
Trevor Myles (who ran Paradise Garage), relinquished the entire premises to McLaren and Casey in November 1971. They renamed the shop Let It Rock with stock including second-hand and new Teddy Boy clothes designed by McLaren's school teacher girlfriend Vivienne Westwood. The shop-front corrugated iron frontage was painted black with the name pasted in pink lettering. The interior was given period detail, such as "Odeon" wallpaper and Festival of Britain trinkets. Bespoke tailored drape jackets, skin-tight trousers, and thick-soled "brothel creepers" shoes were the mainstays. Let It Rock was soon covered in the London Evening Standard. In 1973 the outlet interior was changed and the shop was given a new name, Too Fast To Live, Too Young To Die, to reflect a new range of clothing from Britain's early 1960s "rocker" fashions. In the spring of 1974 the shop underwent another refurbishment and was rebranded with the name Sex.
The façade included a 4 ft sign of pink foam rubber letters spelling “SEX”. The interior was covered with graffiti from the SCUM Manifesto and chickenwire. Rubber curtains covered the walls and red carpeting was installed.
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