Bodega Highlights Midnight Studios & GUESS Jeans USA for Punk-Inspired Editorial

Bodega has produced a new editorial that showcases offerings from Midnight Studios and GUESS Jeans USA.

Inspired by the punk rock subcultures of past eras, Bodega presents a denim-heavy, youth-driven collection of shots that emphasizes attitude and recalls the truly rebellious movements of previous generations. “In this more enlightened age, the aggressively DIY styling of Midnight Studios can pair up with designer denim mavens Guess based purely on aesthetics without anyone batting an eye,” reads an official statement from Bodega. Most notably, the Boston-based boutique notes how the concept of this “implied mismatch” fuels the motivation to put it together. Further breaking down the new showcase, Bodega shares the following bit of history with viewers:

One of the key differences between punk in the US and punk in the UK was that, in Britain, punk became a part of the mainstream media landscape. This state of affairs would lead to incidents like an up and coming punk band being invited on an ostensibly genial, early evening talk show as an introduction to a mass audience.

If there was ever a plan for how this was supposed to play out, it went out the window in short order. The Today show’s host, Bill Grundy, appeared to have no purpose for having the band on but to provoke them with quasi-sarcastic remarks. This led to vocalist Johnny Rotten muttering the word “shit” as part of a response to one of Grundy’s inquiries. Although he tried to downplay the swearing as the hasty utterance of “a rude word,” as to not call further attention to it, Grundy would not be satisfied until Rotten had been badgered into audibly repeating the word.

The interview devolved further when Grundy’s lecherous comments towards Siouxsie Sioux, at that time a frequent part of the Sex Pistols entourage, prompted guitarist Steve Jones to unleash a (deserved) f-bomb laden string of invective at the host.

The “interview” vaulted the band into the national consciousness. The station that aired the Today show was flooded with outraged phone calls, including one from a man who claimed that having his child hear the members of a rock band say “shit” on television, caused him to have lost such control of his emotions, that he kicked in the screen of his newly purchased TV.

There’s even a happy ending. The decision to invite a punk band on television, and invite them to swear on a live broadcast, for the sole purpose of subsequently expressing outrage that a punk band had sworn on a live broadcast was deemed “sloppy journalism” by Thames Television, Bill Grundy’s employer. He was suspended over the incident, and his career never really recovered. The Sex Pistols went on to become one of the most important bands of all time.

You can take a look at Bodega’s new Midnight Studios and GUESS Jeans USA editorial above. Earlier this month, Midnight Studios unveiled a limited-edition Fall/Winter 2017 home collection.