gareth pugh ss11

paris fashion week has the potentially unenviable position in the line-up, tailing along at the end, situating itself during the time in which moods are going to be fractious, and tempers short - three weeks of statement heels, permanent champagne fatigue and four hours of sleep a night will do that to you. luckily, it's also the week that is most likely to inspire and amaze, ie it's worth the wait (and the inches).

case in point: gareth pugh. his collection is eagerly awaited every season, and his video presentation yesterday was a sight for sore, fashion-week-weary, eyes.

the video, running at 11 minutes long (half the length of an episode of Coronation Street, at the designer's particular behest), was directed by ruth hogben, working with pugh's iconic dichotomies of black/white and positive/negative, and captured his trademark wanderings between two- and three-dimensionality.

the reference are many and varied - you can see fifties, sixties, seventies, minimalism, androgyny, sci-fi and japanese samurais - and the collection treads a line between futuristic and historic that, though improbable, is seamless and divine. and while it could be said that these trends are nothing if not well-worn, they've been executed in a way that feels entirely fresh and unseen.

tim blanks has commented that perhaps such cinematic presentations are the way forward - and given pugh's offering, we're inclined to agree; it's definitely worth the treadmill-related injury supermodel stalwart kristen mcnenamy sustained during filming.


[jessica aureli]