Last week, 30 years after the Sex Pistols floated past Parliament on a boat blasting out 'God Save the Queen', Vivienne Westwood returned to the river bank. In 1977 she and then-partner Malcolm McLaren were manhandled off the boat by outraged coppers. This time fashion's grand-dame arrived looking more like royalty than rock'n'roll. There was no sign of McLaren, and not the merest hint of outrage. The excellent Brazilian electro-rock band CSS provided the punk element, rocking the motley crew of fashionistas aboard HMS President, moored at Victoria Embankment to celebrate the launch of Westwood's new perfume, called, without irony or shame, Let It Rock.

The scent is named after the shop Westwood opened with McLaren on King's Road in 1971. 'It's the best name for a fragrance right now,' she claimed. 'People are interested in the idea of glamour. I thought back to the 1970s. We felt heroic and tough. Kids were revolting against the older generation, and that's what rock'n'roll is all about.'

It's official, then: perfume is the new rock'n'roll. For just under 50 quid - less than a gram of coke - you can buy a bottle of Let It Rock, spray it behind your ears, and youth and heroism are yours. Looking at the assembled fashionistas, you could almost believe the hype, though that may have been more to do with the champagne than the smell of bergamot, freesia and - wait for it - patchouli. Sid must be spinning in his grave.