In 2016, Vivienne Westwood’s son, Joe Corré, set fire to £5,000,000 of punk rock memorabilia

In 2016, Joe Corré, son of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, burned punk memorabilia he valued at £5 million on a barge on the River Thames. He said punk had been turned into a marketing tool and argued that celebrating its 40th anniversary as a cultural institution stripped it of its rebellious purpose.

Corré also framed the act as a protest about society’s focus on price over value and to draw attention to government failings and the climate crisis. The stunt drew criticism, including from former Black Flag singer Henry Rollins, who called it destructive and selfish and argued Corré could have made his point in less harmful ways; firefighters eventually put out the blaze.