singer of hardcore band Step Right Up, explains, "There was a Romanticism about it." But, as
times change, so do the ways people perceive how to promote change. Society had seen the
hippies tell everyone to love each other. When that did not show results, Punks said get mad
and make your own changes. For more than 70 years people had heard various messages
that attempted to revolutionize the world. These cultures definitely influenced the world, but
they never fulfilled their ideals of total cessation of oppression. In the 2000s, people simply
deviated from what they once felt. Now, they thought that if nothing works, they might as well
join the system.
A perfect example of this is the 2013 fashion exhibit, Punk: Chaos to Couture (Abebe).
This gala event hosted by Vogue Magazine attempted to “subvert the mainstream” by
attracting high profile socialites to the Metropolitan Museum of Art dressed up as 'Punks.'
When asked to comment on Punk culture at the gala, celebrities gave such quotes as:
“The curator of the exhibit told me that the color of punk was pink so I'm in pink by
Chanel.” Anna Wintour (Howard)
“I did not [have a punk phase]. That’s why I think my version of punk for me is not
probably the mohawk, typical punk that you’d sort of envision. A little bit more like
'romantic punk.’" Kim Kardashian (Howard)
“I feel very elegant but kinda punk rock because it’s leather."
Jessica Alba (Howard)
These quotes illustrate the exact status of Punk in modern times. The Punk fashion was a
negation of beauty. Punks ripped their clothes, wore safety pin jewelry, and crudely sewed
patches to their clothes to represent poverty and aggression. It was a message that vanity was
not as important as the media would want one to believe. So, when the editor in chief of Vogue
Magazine, or beauty icons like Kim Kardashian and Jessica Alba, are celebrating Punk
fashion, there is undoubtedly a misinterpretation. If Punk can be co-opted by institutions such
as high fashion and simultaneously welcomed by the same materialistic individuals that it
literally shouted against, then one can easily argue that Punk no longer stands against
hegemonic culture.
This gala is certainly not an isolated incident of how Punk is perceived in the 2000s.
One can observe this corruption of Punk in commercials like Gamier Fructis’ shampoo
advertisement that uses a Transplant’s song to sell their product (Usinger). Or, it can be seen
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