Above: McLaren & Hirst. Below: One of the alleged original fake garments in question…

The world’s highest-paid living artist, DAMIEN HIRST recently shelled out $160,000 of his hard-earned diamond skull money to a private collector for a wardrobe of original punk clothing created by Sex Pistols impresario MALCOLM McLAREN and VIVIENNE WESTWOOD for their legendary 1970s shop SEX & SEDITIONARIES, only to have it all declared fake by McLaren himself. Purchased from longtime McLaren archivist SIMON EASTON as an intended addition to Hirst’s private museum currently under construction, McLaren examined the entire collection at Hirst’s home shortly thereafter only to find the entire lot was comprised of authentic-looking bootlegs. “Seeing these clothes, I said, ‘Wow, they’ve gone to great lengths to manufacture the labels, and distress the fabrics,’” McLaren explained, “but clearly they were not the fabrics we used 35 years ago, and the stitching was totally different. And there were bags and bags of them. We simply didn’t make that many. I mean, we literally made these clothes on my kitchen floor. They were each unique.” While Hirst remains under gag order pending legal action against the collector, Easton maintains that “absolutely everything my clients have purchased is authentic. McLaren actually had very little input in the design of the clothes; he’ll rewrite history on a daily basis. He has less knowledge about these clothes than the people who collect them.” Ever get the feeling you’ve been “cheet-ed”?…

McLaren & Westwood’s “Sex” shoppe as it appeared at 430 King’s Road in the ’70s…