Search and Destroy misses the mark
Zoe Casselman/The Hofstra Chronicle
The East Village is known for its artistry, for being the birthplace of punk music, for remaining recognized as a place for creatives and for containing many performance spaces and musical venues. Expectedly, many stores in the area are related to music, from K-pop merchandise to R&B record stores – all of which are easily worth the visit. However, one exception is Search and Destroy, an infamous shop full of used and vintage punk-rock memorabilia, clothing and accessories.
As I was exploring the East Village and window-shopping, Search and Destroy’s storefront caught my eye. From the outside, under big, bold white spray-painted text of the store’s name, there’s a large glass window with an eclectic collection of seemingly random things, such as skeletons with neon mohawks, a giant Mickey Mouse statue and a pile of baby dolls at their feet. It is an enticing display, but the store itself ruins the whole thing.
Upon entering, the decor begs you to notice just how “punk” and “edgy” it is, with dildos plastered to the glass case at the checkout counter, images of mutilated women on the walls and various graphic imagery and drawings, all unnecessary and presumably for shock value. While I didn’t see any, Search and Destroy has also been known to dress mannequins in Nazi paraphernalia, which is just about as truly anti-punk as you can get. Not to mention, photography is banned within the store – maybe for this exact reason.
Besides just the look, the store was extremely narrow and hard to get through since it was packed floor to ceiling with various merchandise, mannequins and people simply trying to browse. I was one of maybe five customers total in the store at the time. Between myself, other shoppers and the employees, moving freely without constantly bumping into someone or being in their way was nearly impossible. Additionally, most of the racks were so full that the clothing didn’t even move when I tried to push the hangers.
While advertised as uniquely curated vintage punk-rock goods, the merchandise itself is obscenely priced. For example, on the stuffed rack of t-shirts, an Ed Sheeran shirt was on sale for over $30, only a short distance from a tie-dye Myrtle Beach shirt for the same price. What part about either of those things is vintage punk? Many of the jackets and sweaters were well over $100, and the actual punk-related clothing was similarly jacked up in price.
The quality of the apparel, especially the shoes and accessories, was also lacking, not that the price reflected that. Some of the shirts even looked to be stained and were still being sold at regular prices. Many platform shoes being sold were made of foam or similarly cheap material – yet were still priced egregiously.
Cheap Halloween and fishnet tights on accessory racks were sold at $16 per pair, which may not seem like much, but is double what you would pay for an identical pair at Target. Plastic jewelry was tagged at over $20. The list goes on.
From the crude decorations to the outrageous prices, Search and Destroy sits at the peak of poser punk. From the second I entered the store to the moment I left it, I felt as if it was doing everything possible to convince me, “Yes we’re edgy, yes we’re punk” all the while entirely co-opting what punk really means. I’m not saying that punk can’t be gritty, obscene or in your face; those are great aspects of the style. But Search and Destroy takes punk culture and beliefs and completely corrupts them.
Punk culture is alive and well, but this store is the antithesis of what punk really is. It turns the aesthetics into an extremely capitalist business strategy that sells $20-40 shirts for $180-200. Search and Destroy is a way for rich people to buy into punk without having to adhere to its ideology or lifestyle.
While it was cool to look around for a few seconds, it very quickly became clear that Search and Destroy is the opposite of what it claims to be and is not worth more than a glance from the outside.
