This afternoon Vogue.co.uk (closely followed by Brandish) posted some news that made me choke on the leftover garlic naan bread I was nibbling on for my lunch (which was probably a good thing because stale naan is never good!). Known for his imaginatively dramatic designs, Gareth Pugh's first menswear collection will be showcased as part of the upcoming Paris menswear shows in January and is scheduled to take place on Sunday 25 at the Palais de Tokyo (which is one of my favourite places in Paris and where the designer presented his Parisian debut collection back in September and can be seen here). On the release of the news Gareth remarked..."It just feels like an organic progression and yes, I am going to be very busy working over Christmas!"His solid, architectural aesthetic melds progressively with the Gothic, the futuristic, the treacherous, and the peculiar, all of which are things men's fashion has been crying out for! Whatever you think about his designs (I for one dream of wearing the Elizabethan Stormtrooper look he presented in Paris last time round and I was a little surprised to read that Marilyn Manson is also a fan), Pugh never fails to put on a great show whilst creating much discussion and this is just what menswear needs right now because it has to be said that not many menswear designers have managed to charter new territory in recent presentations...in fact I can only think of Thom Browne as the only menswear designer who brings a little theatre to the runway. Following two seasons of mediocre fashion weeks with little to talk about it is about time something came along and mixed things up a little bit. As Gareth Pugh has a busy Christmas (as I will no doubt put on a few pounds eating an excessive amount of roast potatoes...I guess you could call that busy) I just can't wait for Fashion Week...which is something I didn't think that I would type given the yawn inducing previous two seasons.
I will certainly return to this piece of news in a future post but I just have to digest the information and that naan bread a little more, plus I wanted to spread the news. What do you make of the news that the Dark Prince is venturing into menswear?
10 comments:
Overrated.
And I think we have our first feud of the fashion season! Save your thoughts for the recording!
Only Thom Browne? How about John Galliano, Walter van Beierendonck, John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Raf Simons, Vivienne Westwood, Bernhard Wilhelm, Martin Margiela, Henrik Vibskov etc.
TheSundayBest - I just can't wait for our little discussions. This show will certainly cause a few talking points!
Uinko - I must concede that I was somewhat hastey in that declaration and you mention some great additions, I especially agree with Galliano, van beierandonck and vibskov but not all of the designers you listed create a great spectacle aswell as designs to marvel over! For me, menswear shows lack the same theatre which is an intrinsic facet of the womens shows but that is only my opinion
I love Pugh and I think this is fantastic news. How can you not be entertained by his shows? His robotic goth designs are fun and fascinating constructions in my opinion.
I have to agree with Uinku though, there are many showmen in the industry right now and some of them are even kind of good.
im pro pugh, i have to admit i see it as more of a show than an actual chance to see what i could be wearing in the following season. thats just not realistic for a boy from blackpool.
i do love his designs even if they are just to look at on the catwalk. its very exciting.
Ian Brown - I knew you would be a fan of Pugh! Now that I've had time to digest the news and the naan bread I almost choked on I agree with Uinku as well. Maybe the issue I have is not that there aren't enough showmen, but that they just aren't getting the attention that they deserve and not being talked about enough. That said, the last two seasons passed me by without making my heart flutter that often. I will make sure that I don't miss anything this time around and am looking forward to commenting on and creating discussions surrounding the upcoming shows with The Sunday Best.
I look forward to hearing some contrasting opinions on this topic. I'm a sucker for a good debate.
This will surely cause discussions. A bit of controversy is good!
Not that I would be wearing anything of Pugh's off the rack, but this might influence what is on the rack.
I totally agree with you that the past few seasons have been lackluster in general. I mean, there were great collections, but I just don't understand why some of them had such a buzz about them, both in men ánd women's collections.
For example Lanvin, why did the SS09 collection get a standing ovation while the FW07 and SS08 collections were SO much better? Same goes for Dries, kind of a snooze if you ask me(doesn't take away that it was a good collection though). Very dissapointing.
I'm curious what the reaction to the financial crisis will be for the FW09 collections.
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