Gareth Pugh F/W 09 Mens - Paris

[Faust]

/\ Thanks. I dug the soundtrack very much.

[SHYE_POSER]

Yes it was def a great soundtrack.Matthew stone is responsible for all his shows music.
They met at university and were part of an art collective called the Wow Wow Wows. A lot of what they done was performance art based.

[Faust]

Yeah, the music added so much to the show - it really charged the atmosphere. It was great to be there.

[SHYE_POSER]

I can imagine. Ive attended and helped at a few of his shows in London,and the atmosphere is always so intense...he is a fantastic show man!
Its seems London has a knack for producing such great show men, such as McQueen,Galliano etc etc.

[Faust]

Indeed.

[sound&vision]

Lots of stuff up on why-lip now. Prices aren't as bad as I expected.

[SHYE_POSER]

Not as bad as expected??? what where u expecting?
the blazers are averaging £1,400-£2000+
Granted the leathers seem reasonable but still...

[snafu]

Catfood thanks for that link!
After looking at the pieces closer im very disappointed despite what i was saying earlier.

The pieces in them selves seem very ordinary with a glam'ed up darkness to them. The cuts sure are slim but really very ordinary, apart from the raised shoulder it is nothing we haven't seen before in recent times. Sure the pvc thing is quite a signature mark for Gareth but really i don't like it as much on a male than he does in his woman's designs.

Really i know i have used it alot recently but the word 'trashy' comes to mind and this may be his intention but i don't think it has been to successful, it all seems rather obvious and try hard; cliched. The spikes and black fur and lots of leather are too close to the darkness everyone seems to want to design these days ( i mean really is the world such a fucking awful place? ). Sure Gareth has always gone down this road but i wish he had played down the drama in this one, maybe he wanted full impact for his first collection. I think he has far more potential to do a more subtle clever collection. This maybe would loose some of the fashion victim followers he seems to draw, and he would make a more wearable collection.
I feel most of the pieces are too aesthetically based on this dark look, he just seems to add more straps, more rips, more nails, severer lines; its all things we have seen done before and refrenced many times. I wish he had been more innovative in other areas and been a bot more considered. Chains spikes gloss what guy is actually seriously going to do this without looking like a try hard fool? But i can understand he takes these known aspects and plays with them.

Im not saying its a flop because i dont think it is, if some people are clever enough they can tone the pieces down and wear them in a great way without looking like member for the 'Pugh gang'. If he moved away from the expected image he has already created, which im not sure if its really suited in menswear, i feel he could be more successful. In the end we all know woman can wear more and have a bit more drama than we can, for us the head pieces and overall look is a bit OTT, don't you think ? Maybe if he had worked in a matt palette rather than the gloss one he uses for woman.

Its a shame he is not going to dior as i think he could do much more in menswear with the constraints dior would bring to him. He would maybe produce clothes more appropriate for male, hinting his ideas rather than screaming them.
I still would love to anyone one piece from this collection as i feel we all know he is someone to go down in fashion history and i think pulled off correctly the raised shoulder is maybe the most successful aspect of this collection.

[SHYE_POSER]

I agree with you on most aspects snaf.
As it was his first all mens show,he wanted to bring some of that drama and showmanship that he is known for,and it worked brilliantly.
But in terms of wearability,there were only a handful of pieces.
The majority of the styles he used where elements that he has used in his womenswear collections before hand.
I think if he tones it down too much,it just wont be him,as his clothes are known to be very challenging.
Only now with his last womenswear collection do you see many easier/wearable pieces.
The "trashy" side has always been part of gareths aesthetic,aswell as it being very dark. It is something i do not think he will ever change,as he is not really a tone it down kind of designer, he likes the volume turned up full blast!
This is who he is as a designer,and if he toned it down for his own line,i feel he would not be true to himself.
I whole heartedly agree with your point on if he was at dior,and working with constraint.
As for his own line,that isnt his vision,he likes is men to be just as outlandish as his women!
Concerning the raised shoulder,he used it a lot in hiss ss09 collection, ive posted somewhere,possibly in the GP thread,that this shoulder idea was done before,by the winner of project catwalk 2 years ago now.
Although the idea is the first time seen on menswear.
Either way im really looking forward to his new collection to see what direction he is choosing to follow...

[snafu]

I do agree he should not loose his routes in his designs or 'his look'. But i think he has simply transfered womanswear into menswear without thinking about the real difference's i mean this could be a womanswear collection but with a grounding mens clothes, well what i mean a masculine womanswear collection no? cant you imagine skinny girls wearing this stuff, head piece's and all.

I dont expect him to turn down the volume but really i would like him to redirect where he makes his noise, you understand ?
I mean this is his first mens collection so who would expect it to be perfect he has not had the time to develop his mens signature pieces yet. Many of the cuts look to be similar to ricks womanswear but i dunno. Its things like the fabrics used they are either trashy or normal not really anything ground breaking.
Il admit i am disappointed but thats what happens when you really are successful people have very high expectations for him, i just think he can do so much better, or atleast he could create more of a balance and bring it closer to what i think menswear should be.
i wish him all the best and like i said iv got my eye out for pieces in person.

[SHYE_POSER]

Read back one page snafster and u will see that we share the same view point on most of the things.

I dont expect him to turn down the volume but really i would like him to redirect where he makes his noise, you understand ?

love this sentence...i dig!

[sound&vision]

either way i'm excited to get my leather shoulders on :D

[snafu]

mike yeh its good seeing jaspers jacket from then, on the last page...
sneaky sneaky :)
i actually literally bumped into jasper the other day coming out of old street, i know his flat is in the red building.
Do you know what he is doing these days ?

[SHYE_POSER]

Very sneaky indeed,considering Henry "im blagging it as a designer" Holland was guest judge on that episode! And is a close friend of GP.
Dont know what he is up to,but here is his website

https://www.jaspergarvida.com

How many of them live there?! Ross who was in the same series lives there also. Top bloke he is. He used to work at Browns Focus,but currently works at Start and does a lot of commissioned work from home. Doing really well with it! And his house parties are legendary!

S&V you go and get your shoulders covered in leather!

[Faust]

Looks like why lip buys are shitty overall. Their Ann buy is horrible. There was so much amazing stuff in the showroom, and they buy a bunch of shirts and a played out hooded jacket...