Following a two-year break from the fashion schedule, during which Pugh focused on various creative projects including the revival of work by ’80s icon, Claude Montana, the events of 2020 inspired him to make a comeback. “With all of the stuff that’s happening: Black Lives Matter, Trans Lives Matter, monuments being torn down, the pandemic... it’s kind of been an insane year,” he remarks. “I think that the only way that one can honestly create work is to react to the world around you. Fashion doesn’t exist in a vacuum.”
There seems no better time for the avant-garde creator, who is renowned for his anarchistic, architectural approach to design, to make a return to LFW – albeit in a suitably unconventional way. Back with a bang, Pugh admits he is “never one to [merely] dip his toes in” and is set to present an expansive body of work with the famed photographer Nick Knight.
The designer, who made his debut as part of the Fashion East collective in 2004 after he graduated from Central Saint Martins, has united the realms of music, fashion film, stills and – with the help of pioneering artist, Jon Emmony – a series of digital worlds for his latest endeavour. Music, in particular, was the driving force and Gareth referred back to a playlist he listened to in the park after lockdown restrictions were eased. “We felt [the soundtrack] was a nice place to start. It signals the dawn of a new day; coming out all bleary-eyed from being locked inside for three months and starting to feel a little bit more hopeful.”
Absence of commercial pressure meant that Pugh was able to enjoy a liberated process, and was given free rein when choosing fabrics and silhouettes. Thirteen looks, 13 songs, 13 explosive movies shorts and stills feature in the project, which Pugh mentions is best described as a “visual album” entitled, The Reconstruction.
Activists and change-makers from across the UK comprise the cast of the project. Musicians Rina Sawayama and IAMDDB; artist and activist Sakeema Crook; The Royal Ballet’s principal dancer Matthew Ball; artist and performer Jenny Bastet; dancers Travis Clausen-Knight and James Pett; performers Finn Love and Georgie Bee; the model Jade O Belle and Georgia Moot bring unique dynamism to the garments. “We wanted people with a point of view,” Gareth says. “They’re people you’d wanna hang out with or have next to you in a fight.”
True to his distinctive aesthetic, the fashion pieces boast shapely, battle-like design tics. The opening look, for instance, worn by his model muse Maggie Maurer, features a slinky, bias-cut dress worn with a rigid, structural vest. In Emmony’s AR space, a virtual version of Maurer can be seen in a deserted expanse standing alongside a fire. Apocalyptic references are rife in the accompanying imagery, though the overall message wasn’t intentionally dark. “It’s the first time I’ve ever done a collection where there’s zero black in it,” Gareth observes. “We just wanted to do something that was with a little bit more of a positive spin.”
Determined to ensure that the clothes acknowledged the current climate, the collection will exist as a temporary exhibition at Christie’s from 16 September with all proceeds from the purchased tickets (sold at a nominal fee) going towards Refuge, a charitable organisation that supports victims of domestic violence. Gareth explains: “It’s heartbreaking to think people have been in these situations, so we just wanted to leverage our work and use our platform to do something that was good for us and good for others as well.”
On that note, the pieces are not for sale, so a capsule of printed T-shirts created in collaboration with emerging designer, Melissa Mehrtens, will be launched in an exclusive partnership with online retail platform Hit + Run, which champions the zero-waste model. His final thoughts on returning to LFW during this strangest of seasons? “One of our favourite expressions is go hard or go home – so we did that!”
True to his distinctive aesthetic, the fashion pieces boast shapely, battle-like design tics. The opening look, for instance, worn by his model muse Maggie Maurer, features a slinky, bias-cut dress worn with a rigid, structural vest. In Emmony’s AR space, a virtual version of Maurer can be seen in a deserted expanse standing alongside a fire. Apocalyptic references are rife in the accompanying imagery, though the overall message wasn’t intentionally dark. “It’s the first time I’ve ever done a collection where there’s zero black in it,” Gareth observes. “We just wanted to do something that was with a little bit more of a positive spin.”
Determined to ensure that the clothes acknowledged the current climate, the collection will exist as a temporary exhibition at Christie’s from 16 September with all proceeds from the purchased tickets (sold at a nominal fee) going towards Refuge, a charitable organisation that supports victims of domestic violence. Gareth explains: “It’s heartbreaking to think people have been in these situations, so we just wanted to leverage our work and use our platform to do something that was good for us and good for others as well.”
On that note, the pieces are not for sale, so a capsule of printed T-shirts created in collaboration with emerging designer, Melissa Mehrtens, will be launched in an exclusive partnership with online retail platform Hit + Run, which champions the zero-waste model. His final thoughts on returning to LFW during this strangest of seasons? “One of our favourite expressions is go hard or go home – so we did that!”
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