Joe Corré has begun the burning of his £5 million-valued collection of punk memorabilia by destroying an original acetate copy of the Sex Pistols’ ‘Anarchy in the UK’.

Corré, who is the son of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McClaren, made headlines earlier this year when he vowed to burn his expensive collection in protest of Punk.London’s year-long celebration of 40 years of punk music. Corré also claimed that the celebration has been endorsed by the Queen, and criticised institutions like the BFI, Museum of London (where Corré appeared earlier this month for a Punk.London debate), and the Roundhouse for turning punk into “a museum piece.”

The Agent Provocateur founder started the burning on Tuesday night (November 22) by destroying an original copy of the Sex Pistols’ famous single – which was live-streamed over on Dazed – in an act that intended to give a “taster” of what is to come.


Prior to the burning, Corré had listed the single on eBay in the hope of selling it for charity. However, despite bids that reached £62,500 last week, none of the bidders matched Corré’s reserve price of £1 million – meaning that the single was instead destroyed.

The burning of the remainder of Corré’s punk memorabilia will take place on Saturday (November 26), which falls on the 40th anniversary of the release of ‘Anarchy In The UK’. The event will be live-streamed on Burn Punk London‘s website.