Gareth Pugh
Encyclopedia
Gareth Pugh is an English
fashion designer. He currently lives and works in Paris
.
At 14, Pugh began working as a costume design
er for the English National Youth Theatre. He started his fashion education at City of Sunderland College
and finished his degree in Fashion Design at Central Saint Martins in 2003. He interned with Rick Owens
in Paris. His final collection at St. Martins, which used balloon
s to accentuate models' joints and limbs (a technique that would become one of his trademarks), attracted the attention of the senior fashion editor
of Dazed & Confused
magazine, who placed one of his designs on the magazine's cover shortly thereafter. Pugh was selected to participate in British reality show The Fashion House two months after his graduation, which he would later call "horrible" and his "only other option [to being on] the dole." The rise of !WOWOW!
, a feature in Dazed & Confused, and a debut show at London club Kashpoint's Alternative Fashion Week brought Pugh to the attention of Fashion East "London's breeding ground for cutting-edge new talent," leading them to invite Pugh to participate in its Autumn 2005 group show. Pugh had only four weeks, with no studio, no assistants, and little money, to create the collection. His collection ended up a critical success and attracted significant attention to his designs.
Pugh's solo premiere was in London's Fall 2006 fashion week
; he has since showed his Spring 2007 and Autumn 2007 collections there. Pugh's shows have continued to draw critical praise. British Vogue
, for instance, called his Spring 2007 collection "an incredible, unmissable show" and said that "his genius is undeniable." Anna Wintour
is a notable supporter of Pugh's designs.
Kylie Minogue
has used many of Pugh's designs over the recent years, most famously in her Showgirl - The Greatest Hits Tour
and Showgirl - The Homecoming Tour
. Róisín Murphy
recently appeared flamboyantly sporting one of Pugh's distinctive outfits in the videoclip promoting her 2007 album Overpowered
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlFjf1pWk2c, and on the cover of her single Let Me Know
, and on other occasions. Minogue has been seen wearing the same dress in her 2008 video for her single In My Arms
. Beyoncé
wore Pugh at the MTV Europe Awards in 2008, and for her Diva
video. Singer Lady Gaga
recently wore a jacket designed by Pugh at the Wango Tango
concert 2009 and another piece on X Factor
. Ashlee Simpson wore a leather and clear plastic striped Gareth Pugh dress in her video "Outta My Head."
In 2010, Gareth Pugh has opened his first boutique in Hong Kong
.
describes Pugh as the "latest addition to a long tradition of fashion-as-performance-art
that stretches back through Alexander McQueen
, John Galliano
, and Vivienne Westwood
to the eighties club culture of Leigh Bowery
." (Pugh, however, dismisses frequent Bowery comparisons as "lazy journalism.")
Klaus Nomi
has also been suggested as an influence on Pugh.
Pugh's collections are autobiographical rather than referential, and draw inspiration from Britain's extreme club scene. Pugh's trademark is his experimentation with form and volume
. He often uses "nonsensically shaped, wearable sculpture
s" to "distort[] the human body almost beyond recognition." Elements in his designs include PVC
inflated into voluminous coats, black and white patchwork squares, Perspex discs linked like chain mail
, and shiny latex
masks and leggings; he has used materials including mink
, parachute
silk
, foam
footballs, afro
-weave synthetic hair, and electrically charged plastic
in his clothing. Pugh describes his designs as being "about the struggle between lightness and darkness."
ultimately forced him to leave the building.) He says his current studio is unheated and has only two electrical outlets. It remains to be seen whether Pugh can be a commercial success as well as a critical one, but he is slowly shifting to more wearable clothing in his runway shows and he has partnered with Rick Owens
and Michele Lamy, who hold a 49% interest in Gareth Pugh's firm. The husband and wife team now fund all of Pugh's collection development, production and marketing activities.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
fashion designer. He currently lives and works in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Career
Costume design
Costume design is the fabrication of apparel for the overall appearance of a character or performer. This usually involves researching, designing and building the actual items from conception. Costumes may be for a theater or cinema performance but may not be limited to such...
er for the English National Youth Theatre. He started his fashion education at City of Sunderland College
City of Sunderland College
Sunderland College, is a Further Education, Higher Education College based in Sunderland, North East England. The enrolment includes around 6,300 part-time learners and approximately 4,800 full-time students...
and finished his degree in Fashion Design at Central Saint Martins in 2003. He interned with Rick Owens
Rick Owens
Rick Owens is an American fashion designer hailing from California, celebrated for his avant garde and subversive eye.He is married to Michele Lamy.Since 2003, Rick Owens has lived in Paris.-Biography:...
in Paris. His final collection at St. Martins, which used balloon
Balloon
A balloon is an inflatable flexible bag filled with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. Modern balloons can be made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, while some early balloons were made of dried animal bladders, such as the pig...
s to accentuate models' joints and limbs (a technique that would become one of his trademarks), attracted the attention of the senior fashion editor
Fashion journalism
Fashion journalism is an umbrella term used to describe all aspects of published fashion media. It includes fashion writers, fashion critics or fashion reporters...
of Dazed & Confused
Dazed & Confused (magazine)
Dazed & Confused is a British style magazine, that was set up in 1992 and published monthly. Its founding editors were Jefferson Hack and Rankin...
magazine, who placed one of his designs on the magazine's cover shortly thereafter. Pugh was selected to participate in British reality show The Fashion House two months after his graduation, which he would later call "horrible" and his "only other option [to being on] the dole." The rise of !WOWOW!
!WOWOW!
!WOWOW! is a collective in Peckham, London. Otherwise known as The Children of Pizza Mat, they are a group of artists, fashion designers, writers and musicians, who have promoted numerous art events and parties in London and Berlin.-History:...
, a feature in Dazed & Confused, and a debut show at London club Kashpoint's Alternative Fashion Week brought Pugh to the attention of Fashion East "London's breeding ground for cutting-edge new talent," leading them to invite Pugh to participate in its Autumn 2005 group show. Pugh had only four weeks, with no studio, no assistants, and little money, to create the collection. His collection ended up a critical success and attracted significant attention to his designs.
Pugh's solo premiere was in London's Fall 2006 fashion week
Fashion Week
A fashion week is a fashion industry event, lasting approximately one week, which allows fashion designers, brands or "houses" to display their latest collections in runway shows and buyers and the media to take a look at the latest trends. Most importantly, these events let the industry know...
; he has since showed his Spring 2007 and Autumn 2007 collections there. Pugh's shows have continued to draw critical praise. British Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, for instance, called his Spring 2007 collection "an incredible, unmissable show" and said that "his genius is undeniable." Anna Wintour
Anna Wintour
Anna Wintour, OBE is the British-born editor-in-chief of American Vogue, a position she has held since 1988. With her trademark pageboy bob haircut and sunglasses, Wintour has become an institution throughout the fashion world, widely praised for her eye for fashion trends and her support for...
is a notable supporter of Pugh's designs.
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
has used many of Pugh's designs over the recent years, most famously in her Showgirl - The Greatest Hits Tour
Showgirl - The Greatest Hits Tour
Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour is a concert tour by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. Minogue was originally scheduled to perform in Australia and Asia during the tour, but she was forced to cancel the tour when she was diagnosed with breast cancer...
and Showgirl - The Homecoming Tour
Showgirl - The Homecoming Tour
Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour is a concert tour by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. Minogue was originally scheduled to perform in Australia and Asia during Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour in 2005, but she was forced to cancel the tour when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.Minogue resumed the...
. Róisín Murphy
Róisín Murphy
Róisín Marie Murphy is an Irish singer-songwriter and record producer, known for her electronic style.Murphy first came to note as part of the electronic music duo Moloko. Her partner in the band was then-boyfriend Mark Brydon. After the two ended their romantic relationship, Murphy released her...
recently appeared flamboyantly sporting one of Pugh's distinctive outfits in the videoclip promoting her 2007 album Overpowered
Overpowered
Overpowered is the second solo studio album by Irish recording artist Róisín Murphy, released in Ireland on 12 October 2007 and in the United Kingdom and rest of Europe on 15 October 2007. The album was to be released in the United States in late 2008 or early 2009, but was cancelled by EMI due to...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlFjf1pWk2c, and on the cover of her single Let Me Know
Let Me Know
"Let Me Know" is a song by Irish recording artist Róisín Murphy from her second solo studio album, Overpowered. Written and produced by Murphy and Andy Cato of Groove Armada, the song was released as the album's second single on 8 October 2007. "Let Me Know" reached number twenty-eight in the...
, and on other occasions. Minogue has been seen wearing the same dress in her 2008 video for her single In My Arms
In My Arms (Kylie Minogue song)
"In My Arms" is a song by Australian pop singer-songwriter Kylie Minogue from her tenth studio album, X . The track was written by Minogue, Calvin Harris, Richard "Biff" Stannard, Paul Harris and Julian Peake. It was produced by Calvin Harris and Stannard...
. Beyoncé
Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...
wore Pugh at the MTV Europe Awards in 2008, and for her Diva
Diva
A diva is a celebrated female singer. The term is used to describe a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and, by extension, in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of diva is closely related to that of "prima donna"....
video. Singer Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
recently wore a jacket designed by Pugh at the Wango Tango
Wango Tango
Wango Tango is an annual day-long concert produced on by local Los Angeles radio station KIIS-FM. The concert series has been staged at various venues around southern California including Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Verizon Wireless...
concert 2009 and another piece on X Factor
The X Factor (UK)
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...
. Ashlee Simpson wore a leather and clear plastic striped Gareth Pugh dress in her video "Outta My Head."
In 2010, Gareth Pugh has opened his first boutique in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
.
Aesthetic
Style.comStyle.com
Style.com is a fashion website. It was formerly the online site for the fashion magazine Vogue and [W] W magazine featuring online versions of some of the magazine's content as well as internet-exclusive material such as event photographs and style-related articles, before Vogue developed its own...
describes Pugh as the "latest addition to a long tradition of fashion-as-performance-art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
that stretches back through Alexander McQueen
Alexander McQueen
Lee Alexander McQueen, CBE was a British fashion designer and couturier best known for his in-depth knowledge of bespoke British tailoring, his tendency to juxtapose strength with fragility in his collections, as well as the emotional power and raw energy of his provocative fashion shows...
, John Galliano
John Galliano
John Charles Galliano CBE, RDI is a Gibraltan-born British fashion designer who was best known as head designer of French haute couture houses Givenchy and Christian Dior , and his own self titled fashion house.-Family:He was born in Gibraltar to a Gibraltarian father, Juan Galliano, and a...
, and Vivienne Westwood
Vivienne Westwood
Dame Vivienne Westwood, DBE, RDI is a British fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream.-Early life:...
to the eighties club culture of Leigh Bowery
Leigh Bowery
Leigh Bowery was an Australian performance artist, club promoter, actor, pop star, model and fashion designer, based in London. Bowery is considered one of the more influential figures in the 1980s and 1990s London and New York art and fashion circles influencing a generation of artists and...
." (Pugh, however, dismisses frequent Bowery comparisons as "lazy journalism.")
Klaus Nomi
Klaus Nomi
Klaus Sperber , better known as Klaus Nomi, was a German countertenor noted for his wide vocal range and an unusual, otherworldly stage persona....
has also been suggested as an influence on Pugh.
Pugh's collections are autobiographical rather than referential, and draw inspiration from Britain's extreme club scene. Pugh's trademark is his experimentation with form and volume
Volume
Volume is the quantity of three-dimensional space enclosed by some closed boundary, for example, the space that a substance or shape occupies or contains....
. He often uses "nonsensically shaped, wearable sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
s" to "distort[] the human body almost beyond recognition." Elements in his designs include PVC
Polyvinyl chloride
Polyvinyl chloride, commonly abbreviated PVC, is a thermoplastic polymer. It is a vinyl polymer constructed of repeating vinyl groups having one hydrogen replaced by chloride. Polyvinyl chloride is the third most widely produced plastic, after polyethylene and polypropylene. PVC is widely used in...
inflated into voluminous coats, black and white patchwork squares, Perspex discs linked like chain mail
Chain Mail
"Chain Mail" is a single by Mancunian band James, released in March 1986 by Sire Records, the first after the band defected from Factory Records. The record was released in two different versions, as 7" single and 12" EP, with different artworks by John Carroll and, confusingly, under different...
, and shiny latex
Latex
Latex is the stable dispersion of polymer microparticles in an aqueous medium. Latexes may be natural or synthetic.Latex as found in nature is a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants . It is a complex emulsion consisting of proteins, alkaloids, starches, sugars, oils, tannins, resins,...
masks and leggings; he has used materials including mink
Mink
There are two living species referred to as "mink": the European Mink and the American Mink. The extinct Sea Mink is related to the American Mink, but was much larger. All three species are dark-colored, semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammals of the family Mustelidae, which also includes the weasels and...
, parachute
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
, foam
Foam
-Definition:A foam is a substance that is formed by trapping gas in a liquid or solid in a divided form, i.e. by forming gas regions inside liquid regions, leading to different kinds of dispersed media...
footballs, afro
Afro
Afro, sometimes shortened to fro and also known as a "natural", is a hairstyle worn naturally by people with lengthy kinky hair texture or specifically styled in such a fashion by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair...
-weave synthetic hair, and electrically charged plastic
Plastic
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
in his clothing. Pugh describes his designs as being "about the struggle between lightness and darkness."
Commercial potential
Though he has received significant acclaim in contemporary fashion circles, Pugh claimed in March 2007 that he had yet to sell a single dress and that he struggled to make ends meet. (Until his Spring 2007 collection, his clothes were solely catwalk experiments and simply unavailable to purchase.) While constructing his autumn 2005 debut collection, shown in the Fashion East group show, he was squatting in a converted warehouse. (A court orderCourt order
A court order is an official proclamation by a judge that defines the legal relationships between the parties to a hearing, a trial, an appeal or other court proceedings. Such ruling requires or authorizes the carrying out of certain steps by one or more parties to a case...
ultimately forced him to leave the building.) He says his current studio is unheated and has only two electrical outlets. It remains to be seen whether Pugh can be a commercial success as well as a critical one, but he is slowly shifting to more wearable clothing in his runway shows and he has partnered with Rick Owens
Rick Owens
Rick Owens is an American fashion designer hailing from California, celebrated for his avant garde and subversive eye.He is married to Michele Lamy.Since 2003, Rick Owens has lived in Paris.-Biography:...
and Michele Lamy, who hold a 49% interest in Gareth Pugh's firm. The husband and wife team now fund all of Pugh's collection development, production and marketing activities.