Gareth Pugh Fall/Winter 2017 Ready-to-Wear Review

     Gareth Pugh's latest demonstration was the best kind of fashion show: one that reflects on the world it inhabits, results in strong critiques, and provides a strong, undeniably opinionated cohesive message. This truly terrifying show began to unfold on social media, weeks before the basement setting and the mind-melting track started playing. Pugh released a few images on the brand's Instagram in protest of the election of President Donald Trump, with the hashtag #fucktrump and #pussygrabsback. This opposition to the Trump agenda in the United States was an unavoidable theme for Pugh as this show. Hosted under five flights of stairs, in an unfinished basement devoid of light, journalists and other guests sat in narrow spaces in total darkness until a soft, classical voice challenged the listener to "stay awake, keep your eyes open". Then a thunderous crash of sound and light interrupted. The soft, caring voice was replaced with a screaming drill sergeant, spliced with Trump hollering "Build that wall! Build that wall!", spliced with pop music from the past forty years, and other themes in a wild and unsettling cacophony. Pugh was smashing these recorded media together, with terrifying results. The listener simply couldn't follow, and it was impossible to calculate the beat in the soundtrack. Perhaps Pugh was referring to the clamor of information so readily available on the internet and on social media platforms. Perhaps he thinks the internet is what got us in this mess and what is going to make the future only worse. The first warrior of Pugh's terrifying vision of the future was clad in big, black leather boots and a pointed collar leather coat with black vinyl covering her eyes. This freakish makeup continued, as some of Pugh's greatest friends strutted around in all black military-esque jackets and faux fur. At first glance they may seem like just your average London club kids and dominatrices, but they are the average people of the brutal future in Pugh's eye. The clothes in and of themselves were nothing revolutionary, as Pugh played with and used many of his previous silhouettes and techniques in his trademark black. However, it was the setting and the stomping of which they were subjected to that made the clothes feel new and modern. Trash bag-like material billowed around in the storm as sculptural constructions stayed put on the model's forms. It can be denounced then that the purpose of this fashion show was to state a strong, political viewpoint by Pugh, rather than offer frivolous and trendy ideas that Pugh has never been a fan of anyway. Gareth Pugh has an undeniable opinion this season. This only pushes him further as a designer, with more than a decade of experience, into a realm of superiority over designers who choose not to have a well-rounded opinion on the turbulent political climates of the world. The world which we all inhabit, in fact. 

Maison Margiela Spring/Summer 2017 Couture Review

     Every season John Galliano for Maison Margiela just gets better and better as a collaboration. Galliano is a sheer genius no doubt, and the Marigela house codes of anonymity, deconstruction, and storytelling fit perfectly. This season, Galliano and the Margiela team explored the way a garment is constructed for their "Artisianal" collection, as well as the filters we put on clothes today. It all started with fabric manipulation; how the garments were pulled apart to create something new. These new creations were strapped together, warped, and buttoned in a modern way. The multiple types of fabrics were all jumbled together, dissarranged like patchwork with high contrasts. Strips of silk and wool were draped everywhere on the body and into the model's hair. As the collection progressed, intricate crystal detailing came woven in and red fabric was introduced. A few of these red looks seem to reference Galliano's first collection for Marigela only two years ago, the "Artisianal" Spring 2015 collection. These looks were mostly in tulle, with a reoccurring face motif. However these faces were morphed and edited in the same way Snapchat filters do. It is interesting to see a highly-regarded designer like Galliano to directly reference something that seems so silly, but it is surely a sign of our times and a token of our culture. The faces became more abstract, as fabric began to billow around the models like fog, until a beautiful face made of tulle by artist Benjamin Shine came out on a clinically white coat. For the finale, the doors at the end of the catwalk flew open, to reveal a massive black sphere of floating fabric, like a storm cloud, that cascaded over the audience when spun around. A cohesive and extraordinary collection done by an extraordinary collaboration.