A tiny shop in 1970s London, in neon pink letters, shouted to passersby: SEX.
The shop, covered in graffiti and barbed wire, sold fetish gear and bondage kits. But it also collected people: Vivienne Westwood, who would go on to become one of the most influential fashion designers in the industry; her partner Malcolm McLaren, a music promoter who put the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls on the stage; bassist Glen Matlock, who worked the register on Saturdays; sales assistant Pamela Rooke, who, under the single name Jordan, became a face of the punk movement. Chrissie Hynde, a founding member of the Pretenders, hung around. John Lydon auditioned in the back room.
In “Pistol,” the Danny Boyle-directed Sex Pistols series that premiered Tuesday on Hulu, SEX isn’t just a shop. It’s a spark plug.
