Playing Around with Ideas for Gareth Pugh's Look

I knew I wanted to do something very avant-garde with this look to reflect Gareth Pugh's very bold and loud collection. I also knew that I wanted to keep the makeup look within the colour scheme of red, blue, white and gold as those were the colours used in his collection. The collection was inspired by SoHo so I want to incorporate aspects of SoHo in the look and when I think of SoHo I think of the bright lights from strip clubs and gay bars so I would love to somehow include lights into my look. Another aspect I would like to include in my look would be coins as coins are seen in many of his looks and there were coins running either side of the runway at the show so I think they are a very strong motif and would be fun to experiment with. One of the popular 2016 spring/summer trends was metallics, which I think I could incorporate perfectly if I decided to use coins in my look.

The coins that were used in Gareth Pugh's collection were 1p coins. The coins were incorporated into many of his looks, for example below they are all hanging from a collar. These same 1p coins were also used to run along either side of the runway.

DREZEN, C., 2016. SS16 Details 14/15 [viewed 12th February 2016]. 
Available from: http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/gallery/20739/13/ss16-details

I wanted to do something about hidden identity in this look and I thought masks would be the perfect way to do this. However I also thought about what people actually do sometimes to cover their identity and I thought of sunglasses straight away. People use sunglasses to either disguise who they are or if they want to cover up their face to conceal a night out etc. I would either cover the glasses in 1p coins or I would somehow incorporate LED light into the glasses. I found this image below of some glasses that were decorated with LED lights on Amazon and I chose the colour yellow to reflect the motif of gold coins. I really like how these look; however the runway would have to be dark for them to show up which could cause problems and when I took my catwalk photo it would be difficult to light and show the lights on the glasses at the same time.

LED light glasses.
LERWAY, 2016. Lerway Neon EI Wire LED Light Up Shutter.. ..Outdoor Activities [viewed 12th February 2016]. Available from: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lerway-Controller-Clubbing-Wayfarer-Activities/dp/B00RK1M59G/
ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1455272484&sr=8-10&keywords=led+light+glasses

Gareth Pugh's SS16 Fashion Film

SHOWSTUDIO, 2015. Gareth Pugh S/S 16 - Fashion Film by Ruth Hogben [viewed 12th February 2016]. 

Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzRHnRx7NoQ

I decided to watch Gareth Pugh's fashion film about his SS16 collection to gain inspiration for the catwalk look I will be designing because I felt like the catwalk show and the fashion film should have links and should compliment each other as almost one piece. Gareth Pugh collaborated with film maker Ruth Hogben to create this provocative film. The fashion film is set in SoHo as the collection itself was inspired by SoHo, as Gareth Pugh says "For me Soho’s a little bit like Disneyland or a fairground, it’s about fantasy or escapism, you can go there and be somebody else". I noticed that all the models' faces were completely covered up, wither with a black cover or a coin-covered mask. Gareth Pugh made is clear that he loves SoHo but I think this fashion film is his way of reaching out to people that SoHo needs to be saved. The girls in the fashion film were described as SoHo Bad Girls which I like because the girls look very rebellious and mysterious, with there covered identities and bold clothing. I also want to reflect this in my hair and makeup designs. I really like the contrast between the high fashion and the cheap 1p coins because it reflects the struggle between creativity and cost. 

The first model in the fashion film, styled by Katie Shillingford, was dressed in a body suit covered in black/dark grey coins. Her whole head was completely covered with these same black coins and I loved how they sparkled in the light. She looked almost insect-like as she wrapped her legs round and spun on the pole, possibly representing the seedy side to SoHo. The black of the outfit suggests a morbid feel, which could reflect Pugh's feeling towards SoHo's deterioration. There are closeups where you can see that she is wearing a mesh bodysuit and then the coins have been individually sown on so that they can still moves freely and therefore create the sparkling effect. I will consider this when designing my look as I want to create the same sparkle and movement in my look. The second model has her face, again, covered completely in coins; however this time they are a rich red. This red could reflect the pain in Pugh heart of SoHo's downfall or it could represent the richness that SoHo potentially has to offer. This model is wearing a short-sleeved mini dress which is covered in red coins. I like how there is not a start-stop aspect the the coins, but that they continue all up the neck to join the face to the clothing. 

Girl 1

SHOWSTUDIO, 2015. Gareth Pugh S/S 16 - Fashion Film by Ruth Hogben [viewed 12th February 2016]. 

Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzRHnRx7NoQ

 Girl 2

SHOWSTUDIO, 2015. Gareth Pugh S/S 16 - Fashion Film by Ruth Hogben [viewed 12th February 2016]. 

Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzRHnRx7NoQ

The two other girls that stood out to me where the girls who had black tight black material pulled over their heads. This gave a less dramatic look because they weren't completely covered in coins; however the all black look could also be seen as more of a statement because it is such a harsh colour. I think this would be used if the outfit didn't have any other coins on the outfit or if it would look better without the coins, for example the black head cover looks great on Girl 3 because she is wearing long black gloves and black tights so the black ties in with each other.

Girl 3

SHOWSTUDIO, 2015. Gareth Pugh S/S 16 - Fashion Film by Ruth Hogben [viewed 12th February 2016]. 

Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzRHnRx7NoQ

Girl 4

SHOWSTUDIO, 2015. Gareth Pugh S/S 16 - Fashion Film by Ruth Hogben [viewed 12th February 2016]. 

Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzRHnRx7NoQ

I noticed in the catwalk show and in the fashion film that all the girls wear slightly different makeup and have slightly different hair to suit whatever outfit they're wearing. This makes sense because some of the outfits look more clown inspired, whereas some of the outfits look more punk inspired. I therefore think I will select a section of clothing from Gareth Pugh's SS16 collection and design a hair and makeup look for that selection. The selection of styled clothing I will be designing my look for is shown below:

Collage of images made by me from
LONDONFASHIONWEEK, 2016. Gareth Pugh [viewed 12th February 2016].
Available from: http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/designers_profile.aspx?DesignerID=123&SeasonID=57

All of the designs above have coins included in there looks and there either in gold, red or black. All of the top row include leather or PVC material in the design which give them a rock or punk kind of feel. All the outfits look very powerful, with strong, tailored shapes and block colours. All the designs also have a seductive feel as they are quite revealing, either being low cut or very short. If I hadn't already seen the very fun and crazy looking makeup and hair designs for this collection, I would think that it would have been more stylish, sleek and powerful looking. I will therefore design looks that give off the same feeling of empowerment and confidence. I will create a design that would be worn by the models above and then the other outfits in Pugh's collection would be modified slightly as they don't have any coins in their looks.


Resources:
SHOWSTUDIO, 2016. Gareth Pugh S/S 16 [viewed 12th February 2016]. Available from: http://showstudio.com/project/gareth_pugh_s_s_16

SHOWSTUDIO, 2015. Gareth Pugh S/S 16 - Fashion Film by Ruth Hogben [viewed 12th February 2016]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzRHnRx7NoQ

LONDONFASHIONWEEK, 2016. Gareth Pugh [viewed 12th February 2016]. Available from: http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/designers_profile.aspx?designerID=123