- Title: UNITED KINGDOM: London shop sells 'Terrorist' clothing and historical memorabilia
- Date: 3rd August 2008
- Summary: (L!1) KINGS ROAD, LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - AUGUST 6, 1977) (REUTERS) INTERIOR OF PUNK BOUTIQUE, 'SEX' PUNKS THROWING FLOWERS DOWN ROAD AND YELLING INTO TELEVISION CAMERA PUNKS THROWING FLOWERS INTO BUS
- Embargoed: 18th August 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: United Kingdom
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVA8FIDT280FSNLNJTPEWDY466UC
- Story Text: Somewhere in between convincing Kate Moss to strip down to her undergarments for a publicity campaign and designing anti-Guantanamo protest panties for his mother Vivienne Westwood's return to London Fashion Week, Joe Corre managed the realization of a dream - a new menswear boutique in East London devoted to selling 'Terrorist' clothing and artefacts.
"It's just a word that's used to describe the enemy. You know, who they don't want you to like today but maybe those same people they wanted you to like yesterday," says Corre.
Asked what makes him think people will want to wear garments bearing the 'Terrorist' label, he rolls his eyes and fires back "because it just sort of signifies that they're awake."
The son of the punk pioneers Westwood and Malcolm McLaren who in the seventies inspired police action with racy t-shirts on sale at their 'Sex' boutique on the Kings Road says he is aware of fashion's power to create a stir.
"I suppose I've always grown up around the idea of starting a shop in order to start a scene," says Corre, who with the next breath adds "the thing is I don't really like shopping."
So Corre enlisted his friend, designer Simon 'Barnzley' Armitage to help with the design of the clothing line and the store which is called 'A Child of the Jago' after an 1896 novel by Arthur Morrison which also dented sensitivities with its depiction of life of an East London slum.
Sitting in the shadow of a new skyscraper and situated directly beside a construction side for a new Underground, A Child of The Jago has the appearance of a portal to the area's past ,with wooden beams lining the ceiling, a large mural of William Hogarth's 18th century Gin Lane on the back wall and a mannequin swinging from a noose.
"We wanted to do something that was relevant to the history of this whole area," says Armitage, addling that the shop has no plans to set up a website or online retail store.
"If people want to buy some clothes from here they can come here and buy the clothes from this shop. It never stopped me as a little kid going to Vivienne's shop to buy punk rock gear. I lived miles away. London might as well have been on Mars when I was a little kid," he says.
"Today everybody makes everything so available. It's also disposable," adds Corre, who seems to have been collecting many of the items not sufficiently appreciated by their original owners for sale in the store's vintage section downstairs.
"Yeah, we've got a chain mail suit. We've got an original Eskimo, Inuit bow and arrow," says Corre, sitting beneath a native American Indian headdress, between a stuffed boar and the second hand books section of the shop.
"We have a Hell's Angel leg here. They're terrorists right? They cause mayhem and frighten everybody. They look great. And where the hell do you buy a Hell's Angel leg?"
Though he says he is "not about just trying to sell everything to everybody," he also insists A Child of the Jago that is no vanity project.
"Of course, we need to sell stuff. This is not some kind of scout's hut shop for us to just have a bit of fun in. This is saying, this is what we like. If it's not a success, it just means to me that perhaps the tipping point has gone too far. That people have no interest anymore in authentic, real things," he says.
Phenomenal success would also present some issues.
"You can't suddenly just ramp it up and open a whole chain of these places." says Corre. "Where the hell are you going to find another Hells Angel's leg?" - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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