Never mind the profits

Chris Carter looks at how punk has been welcomed into the mainstream, and what that means for collectors.

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Real punks don't collect
(Image credit: © Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo)

This summer, upmarket American department store chain Barneys New York started selling a "black brushed Japanese cotton-cashmere jersey" with decorative elongated zippers along the sides for $265. It wasn't the price tag that had people jumping up and down, says Nathan Hodge in The Wall Street Journal. It was what was printed on it: the four vertical black bars of iconic American hardcore punk band Black Flag. "It was enough to make retired slam-dancers spit out their coffee."

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Chris Carter
Wealth Editor, MoneyWeek

Chris Carter spent three glorious years reading English literature on the beautiful Welsh coast at Aberystwyth University. Graduating in 2005, he left for the University of York to specialise in Renaissance literature for his MA, before returning to his native Twickenham, in southwest London. He joined a Richmond-based recruitment company, where he worked with several clients, including the Queen’s bank, Coutts, as well as the super luxury, Dorchester-owned Coworth Park country house hotel, near Ascot in Berkshire.

Then, in 2011, Chris joined MoneyWeek. Initially working as part of the website production team, Chris soon rose to the lofty heights of wealth editor, overseeing MoneyWeek’s Spending It lifestyle section. Chris travels the globe in pursuit of his work, soaking up the local culture and sampling the very finest in cuisine, hotels and resorts for the magazine’s discerning readership. He also enjoys writing his fortnightly page on collectables, delving into the fascinating world of auctions and art, classic cars, coins, watches, wine and whisky investing.

You can follow Chris on Instagram.