Paris Fashion Week: Gareth Pugh S/S 2012

Paris Fashion Week: Gareth Pugh S/S 2012 Gareth Pugh is just one of those designers you can always count on to make a big statement, and he did not disappoint yesterday, opening his Paris show with a video of the newly-skinny

Crystal Renn thrashing around naked, her body a projector screen for a latticework of shadows that echoed the main aesthetic element of this new collection: the cage.
The cage, and elements of entrapment, are seen in every piece of this largely monochrome collection, as stiff and unyielding bodycon dresses, and softer, more flexible shift dresses. The sharp shoulder aesthetic has been given a reboot in this collection, with the focus coming in towards the neck, in a manner that echoes a shield or armour.  This is statement dressing, for sure, but the majority of the pieces, when not given the crazy catwalk treatment, would be perfectly wearable in the real world, albeit with more appropriate foundation garments than, er, none.
We love the floaty, oil-slick dresses that closed the show, but we’re not sold on the pointy, tear-shaped plastic masks. Still, in a collection focusing of entrapment and restraints, they fit right in.