Prod. No.:
BAG_0132 Officially Licensed Sex Pistols Merchandise
Sex Pistols Pink Logo Shoulder/Messenger Bag
The Sex Pistols evolved from The Strand, a band formed in 1972 with Jones on vocals, Cook on drums and Wally Nightingale on guitar.
Early line-ups also included Jim Mackin (now a GP practising in Lincolnshire) on organ, as well as Stephen Hayes, and later Del Noones, on bass.
By 1973 the band members were spending time at Don Letts's Acme Attractions and the more upmarket Let It Rock, a 1950s-themed clothes shop in the Kings Road, Chelsea, area of London.
Let It Rock was owned by former New York Dolls manager Malcolm McLaren and his partner Vivienne Westwood; the shop specialised in "anti-fashion", selling the drapes, slashed T-shirts, brothel creepers and fetish gear later popularised by the punk movement.
As Rotten observed, "Malcolm and Vivienne were really a pair of shysters: they would sell anything to any trend that they could grab onto."
The shop was to become a focal point of the punk rock scene, bringing together many of its primary members: Jordan, Soo Catwoman, Captain Sensible, John Ritchie (later Sid Vicious), Jah Wobble, Gene October, Mick Jones, Tony James and Marco Pirroni, all reacting against the fashion of long hair and flared jeans that prevailed in the early 1970s.