Why was was the death of Malcolm McLaren discussed around the world?”
I wasn’t surprised to discover punk pioneer Malcolm McLaren — who passed away yesterday after a battle with cancer — attended Goldsmiths College until he was kicked out in 1971. I spent a semester at the London arts school when I studied abroad during college, and the school was full of incredibly interesting and creative artists, actors, musicians and writers. And like any Goldsmiths student, McLaren intertwined his many interests (namely, music and fashion), making him so much more than just a music icon. He was a true renaissance man, using fashion to help build punk in the ’70s not only as a genre of music, but as an entire cultural movement, with then-girlfriend and fashion designer Vivienne Westwood. (She even attributes him with getting her interested in fashion.) Case in point: this “Anarchy in the UK” shirt and “Bondage Pants with Bum Flap” (racy!), which the duo designed together in 1977. In London, the two ran a shop, Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die, where the punk band
It is because Malcolm McLaren is a famous figure in punk rock. billboard.com: Malcolm McLaren, Former Sex Pistols Manager, Dies Famed rock ‘n’ roll raconteur Malcom McLaren, best known as the manager of the Sex Pistols, died Thursday (Apr. 8) in New York City at the age of 64. McLaren’s spokesman, Les Molloy, told the U.K.’s Independent that McLaren had been battling cancer “for some time, but recently had been in full health, which then rapidly deteriorated.” Molloy said McLaren’s body will be buried in London’s Highgate Cemetery. McLaren was born into a working class family in London’s Stoke Newington section, and after attending art college he and designer Vivienne Westwood opened a Kings Road clothing store called Let It Rock in 1971, later renamed Too Fast To Live, Too Young To Die. Having traveled to New York in 1972, McLaren began making stage clothes for the New York Dolls and subsequently managed the group — although veteran m
