Vivienne Westwood in the context of "Sky Arts"

Academic dress is a traditional form of clothing for academic settings, mainly tertiary (and sometimes secondary) education, worn mainly by those who have obtained a university degree (or similar), or hold a status that entitles them to assume them (e.g., undergraduate students at certain old universities). It is also known as academical dress, academicals, or academic regalia.

Contemporarily, it is commonly seen only at graduation ceremonies, but formerly academic dress was, and to a lesser degree in many ancient universities still is, worn daily. Today, the ensembles are distinctive in some way to each institution, and generally consist of a gown (also known as a robe) with a separate hood, and usually a cap (generally a square academic cap, a tam, or a bonnet). Academic dress is also worn by members of certain learned societies and institutions as official dress.

Academic dress of King's College London describes the robes, gowns, and hoods worn by undergraduates, graduates and associates of King's College London. After being vested the power to award its own degrees from the University of London in 2006, graduates began wearing King's College London academic dress in 2008.

Punk fashion is the clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewellery, and body modifications of the punk counterculture. Punk fashion varies widely, ranging from Vivienne Westwood designs to styles modeled on bands like the Exploited to the dressed-down look of North American hardcore. The distinct social dress of other subcultures and art movements, including glam rock, skinheads, greasers, and mods have influenced punk fashion. Punk fashion has likewise influenced the styles of these groups, as well as those of popular culture. Many punks use clothing as a way of making a statement.

The early, pre-fame work of designer Vivienne Westwood helped pioneer the look of early British punk with her scene-establishing clothing shops Sex and Seditionaries in the mid-1970s, co-run with Malcolm McLaren who managed the Sex Pistols. Westwood was asked by then-partner McLaren to outfit the Sex Pistols, and Westwood's designs found a canvas on Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious. Her early work with Sex and the Sex Pistols helped to establish her as one of the most influential British designers of the 20th century.

King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents) is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both in west London, England. It is associated with 1960s style and with fashion figures such as Mary Quant and Vivienne Westwood. Sir Oswald Mosley's Blackshirt movement had a barracks on the street in the 1930s.

Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren (22 January 1946 – 8 April 2010) was an English fashion designer and music manager. He was a promoter and a manager for punk rock and new wave bands such as New York Dolls, Sex Pistols, Adam and the Ants, and Bow Wow Wow, and was an early influencer of the punk subculture.

McLaren was brought up by his grandmother after his father, Peter, left the family home. He attended several British art colleges in the 1960s, where he became involved in underground art and left-wing activism. From 1974 to 1976, he operated the Chelsea boutique Sex with his girlfriend Vivienne Westwood, which helped shape early punk fashion and became an early hub for the subculture in London. After a period advising the New York Dolls in the United States, McLaren managed the Sex Pistols, for which he recruited frontman Johnny Rotten. The issue of a controversial record, "God Save the Queen", satirizing the Queen's Jubilee in 1977, was typical of McLaren's shock tactics, and he gained publicity by being arrested after a promotional boat trip outside the Houses of Parliament.

Sex (stylised SEX) was a boutique run by Vivienne Westwood and her then-partner Malcolm McLaren at 430 King's Road, London, between 1974 and 1976. It specialised in clothing that defined the look of the punk movement.

Westwood and McLaren's boutique underwent several name and correlating interior decor changes through the 1970s to connect with design inspirations, the boutique finally being renamed World's End in 1979, a name which (following a short period of closure) the shop retains to this day.