Taking a nod from the Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute’s “From Punk to Chaos” exhibit which opens on May 6, fashion weeks from New York City to London to Milan and Paris in bold statements announced that Punk is back. Gone are the torn tee-shirts, shirts with cigarette burns, safety pins and dirty street urchin references that British designers like Zandra Rhodes and Vivienne Westwood so brightly transferred from the street to runways in the late 1970s and early 80s. This season the nihilistic and rebellious mode of 70s Punk has been caressed into points of view that combine hard and soft, messages of chic individualism and polish, and architectural brilliance juxtaposed against seemingly random compositions. All these polarities have caused consumers to look at the Punk aesthetic in vibrant and innovative ways.

Borne out of political and cultural rebellion against societal norms and oppressive governments, Punk first reared its anarchistic head in New York City in the mid-70s, later spreading to London, and is sometimes associated as an anti-establishment aesthetic in opposition to the austere politics of Margaret Thatcher. Still, the political oeuvre of the Punk aesthetic did not rest  with political protests and outrage, Punk has expanded to embrace an amalgam of expressions in music, dance, theatre, and yes, even fashion.

Vivienne Tam

Vivienne Tam mixed images of President Obama, Chairman Mao with asymmetrical zippered skirts and motorcycle jackets. Aptly timed with the Costume Institute’s punk exploration, Tam combined mixed media, color and texture, hardware and street wear, and politics, which is what Punk in its early development, so expertly did. What Tam has forwarded with this collection is smoothing out some of the edges without losing the internal political roots and expressions of Punk.

Junya Watanabe

Of all the designers this season that referenced Punk in their collections, Watanabe borrowed most heavily from that aesthetic and stayed true to that point of view without attempting to make Punk’s rough, ragged road smooth. Watanabe incorporated tartan plaids, throwaway fabrics that one might find at a thrift store paired with leather jackets and denim. This hodgepodge of disparate fabrics, textures and silhouettes is indicative of what Punk in its heyday had come to represent. And though Watanabe put his own signature stamp of approval of this season’s fascination with Punk, he keeps the aesthetic fresh and vibrant without watering down the schizoid appeal of Punk.

Versace

Donatella Versace has long had an affectation for rock n’ roll and ingeniously funnels her love for rock into collections that are sexy and sensuously flatter the feminine silhouette. This collection was no exception.

For fall 2013, Donatella looked to Punk’s sexy-edged fetish aesthetic as evidenced in some of the vinyl pieces in this collection. Still, Donatella didn’t leave her Punk predilection with just vinyl. Donatella brilliantly mixed the hard and the soft by pairing vinyl, studded belts and boots with structured cashmere and leopard coats. This polarity elevated the Punk of yore to Donatella’s current dissertation on Punk’s ability to be sexy, sophisticated and ever fashion-forward.

Givenchy

Though Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy’s fall 2013 collection took more of a nod toward Grunge than Punk, and may have been a mere dalliance or toe dip into Punk’s pool of nihilism and individuality, the Punk aesthetic was still evident. Punk reared its rebellious head in Tisci’s zippered floral motorcycle jackets and plaid shirts, but was more obvious in Tisci’s almost random combination of fabrications, textures, and styles. After all, Punk has always been a smorgasbord tour de force of individual styles and tastes, and Tisci in this collection tapped into that perspective.

Jeremy Scott and Libertine

Back stateside, Jeremy Scott tapped into the whimsical, fun side of Punk as seen through the prism of West Coast surfers, skateboarders, and LA punk clubs. This collection was a concentrated miasma of graphic images, bold colors and textures. Scott’s genius was his pairing of hard and soft fabrics and textures. Standouts were his monkey-hair coat with a plaid skirt and digital goth prints combined with sexy vinyl jeans.

All images courtesy of style.com

Unlike Jeremy Scott’s fall 2013 outing, Libertine’s Punk reference this season was not front and center. Skull and bones graphic images mostly popped on tee shirts and a few dresses. Libertine chose to incorporate the Punk influence into handwritten messages on jackets and skirts. Punk was never neat, but Libertine’s handwritten “Neat” message implies that, perhaps, Punk can be neat when its message is hand painted on a tailored jacket and slacks.

—William S. Gooch