Punk rock is an anti-establishment subculture and music genre that emerged in the mid- 70’s in the United States and the UK, where the visual aspect of punk was heavily influenced by Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood, who sold the early traditional punk outfits in their legendary shop SEX.

The original punk fashion was a shocking and rebellious as possible, with deliberately offensive t-shirts, intentionally torn clothing covered with safety pins, rivets, studs, chains and patches. Leather jackets and customized blazers were introduced very early, and are still a common fixture of punk fashion, as were spiked or studded wristbands and chokers. Female punks rebelled against stereotypical feminine images by combining opposites like delicate and pretty clothing with typical male clothing, like ballet tutus with big heavy boots.

The gothic scene is deeply rooted in the punk scene, which is why the early batcave and deathrock movement borrowed many style elements from punk, except black is the predominant color instead of red tartan. Deathrock had a sexier image by incorporating fishnets and elaborate make-up for both men and women, and corsets and garters for the girls. Occult and horror imagery are dominant, as is the legendary Crimson Ghost skull, emblematic symbol of the fiendish horrorpunks The Misfits.