Days of Punk | Fashion
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With its pounding beats and defiant lyrics, Punk was a cultural revolution that tore down societal norms. The evolution of punk fashion that emerged from this movement, seen in Joan Jett and The Runaways, embodied the same fearless energy—DIY, unfiltered, and dripping with attitude.

Joan Jett and The Runaways were influential in shaping the sound, look and feel of the music and the performers, and a leading voice of Punk fashion. Jett and The Runaways embraced chopped hair, leather jackets, ripped jeans, goth makeup, and a disheveled look that shouted rebellion. The music of Joan Jett and The Runaways left an indelible mark on rock and punk. They redefined the performance band. Jett and The Runaways put the female rockstar or in this case, punkstar, front and center as musical messengers and fashion icons.

The Runways led by Joan Jett Were The Punk Fashion Runway

At the pinnacle of glam rock, disco, arena rock, and overproduced albums of the mid-1970s, The Runaways brought a defiant aesthetic that was distinctly punk. While mainstream female musicians and singers were corporate Barbie copies playing dress up with extravagant outfits, and stylized hair that represented the corporatization of rock, Joan Jett and The Runaways were streetwise.

Joan Jett photographed by Michael Grecco

The look and feel of The Runaways became an influence for others from New York, Boston, Europe, and South America. Their style became the poster of the Punk look. It was a look that matched the lifestyle of nights that turned into dawn. It was tough; it screamed confidence and a refusal to conform to a society of sameness.

Black leather became the material of punk, but it was individualized by the wearer. It was paired with worn and tattered black or blue jeans and topped with thrift store t-shirts a size too small.

The Runaways used studded accessories to individualize the look. The Punk Culture embraced studs, message buttons, safety-pins, chains and metal decorations that played well against black leather.

Jett Takes Off on The Runway

Joan Jett and The Runaways disbanded but she continued to be a driving fashion influence while fronting The Blackhearts. Jett’s basic outfit on and off stage was skintight leather pants, biker boots, and heavy accessorized outfits. She wore her beliefs on her sleeve with studs, pins, and patches that represented her music, her politics, her art, her aurora, and her inner core.

Joan Jett photographed by Michael Grecco

The Jett fashion look was adopted by bands, fans, and those who lived punk. It was not just the sound of her voice or the driving force of her rhythm that influenced Punk, it was her look that said, “I reject mainstream clothing etiquette.” The punk aesthetic of Jett was a personal statement against the conspicuous consumption of mainstream America.

Jett Fashion Continues to Highlight the DIY of Punk

The look of Jett adapted by the Punk culture was a thrift store fashion. It symbolized the DIY ethos of the early days of Punk when bands recorded and distributed their music without corporate oversight. The Jett fashion look born from recycled thrift store clothing continues the DIY ethos of sustainability.

The Punk look was copied and sold by designers around the world as cutting-edge fashion. The real look that continues today influenced by Jett, The Runaways, The Blackhearts and the core of Punk comes from secondhand thrift stores. It is purposely repurposed fashion as a statement against the decadence of a society of waste.