R.I.P. Malcolm McLaren.

Born in London, McLaren grew up as part of an alienated postwar generation, working to find a way through the rubble and economic strife left in the wake of the blitz. “We were born alone of parents who didn’t want to know us, you know — who met during the war, married during the war, gave birth right after the war, and broke up, because they only got married because they didn’t think anything was going to happen,” he said. “We were born into a very hard-nosed environment with very little love and very little sense of belonging. You always forever were an outcast, a rebel at school.”

McLaren attended art school at St. Martin’s College and Goldsmiths, but after graduation he soon put aside aspirations of being a traditional artist in favor of pursuing a career in fashion. Together with designer Vivienne Westwood, he opened a clothing store that cycled through a series of names, but which entered the annals of fashion history as SEX. There, he and Westwood pioneered an aggressive style that was partly influenced by the ragtag attire of the New York punk scene — particularly the torn-T-shirt look of Richard Hell — and partly by the bondage garb of London’s reviled underground.

Sad news poured in today as we caught wind of Malcolm McLaren’s passing. The legendary punk influencer, fashion figure, and Sex Pistols founder was highly regarded as one of music’s true icons. Having shaped the 70s fashion scene in London along with his work alongside Vivienne Westwood, McLaren was a true pioneer in every sense of the word. He also contributed to our street culture with a Supreme project, in conjunction with Vans, back in 2009. May he Rest in Peace.