Avant-garde Stars

By Katie Wright

Avant-garde Stars

Having watched him fly the LFW nest earlier this year as recipient of the ANDAM Award, GARETH PUGH, London’s finest young export, continues to do us proud. For his second Paris outing Pugh’s creations looked like they could have come straight out of the wardrobe department of a Tim Burton film i.e. dark and slightly disturbing. Pulled apart, though, this collection is more user-friendly than at first glance. OK, so a dove-shaped headpiece may not be for everyone, but grey drainpipes, Bretagne stripe sweater dresses and peep-toe boots are the kind of staples Pugh has expertly reinvented for spring, plus a few statement coats all in a variety of ashy greys

Following in the footsteps of Pugh, fellow Londoner GILES DEACON admitted he was aware of the commercial potential of relocation to Paris. “I just wanted to do more real-life, obtainable clothes,” he said backstage, and that’s what he delivered. So much so that you could easily have mistaken this collection for, say, Luella, were it not for the typically black humoured Giles overtones, like spider prints and the brilliant shiny plush toy dinosaur bags. I can only hope that it was the same black humour that led to (eek!) corset dresses and (double eek!) kitten heels. Either way, this was yet another designer in nineties mode.

Sure to be cited as an inspiration to our golden boys Pugh and Deacon, MAISON MARTIN MAGIELA has suffered a quite spectacular fall from grace this season. It had been rumoured for months that Margiela himself was no longer at the house, and when confirmation of this departure came in the same week as a dire spring collection, the fashion world was not impressed. Even the party mood created on stage with a finale of tons of models milling about and streamers flying couldn’t detract from the sheer ugliness of some of these pieces, like the super-baggy thigh boots and nappy-ish shorts. I have to admit, however, that I do love the desert island dress below.