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“The military parade had its feminine counterpart in the capital: the shopping parade. The ritual of conspicuous waste took up an even larger share of the time and effort of living: competitive spending affected every class. In the baroque period the medieval sumptuary laws, governing the dress and expenditure of each class according to tradition, began to fall in to disrepute, even when they were not actually lifted from the statue books. Luxury, instead of distinguishing special public festivals and celebrations, became a daily commodity. Competitive luxury. To spend more was more important than to spend enough”. The Shopping Parade.
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All of Europe is in mourning for its past. But it has deeper roots in France. It is a depth of a whole culture, a culture of incomparable dignity and flavor and bulk that has been thinned out effaced, confiscated.
In the opulent salons of the Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild; Gareth Pugh's structured, rigid silhouettes that were mixed with a late-Victorian, floor-sweeping elegance were transcendent. They were in homage to the cultural heritage of the surroundings.
For Paris Fashion Week Fall 2013, Gareth offered stiff, stark, floor-length funnel-necked dresses that were softened somewhat by gold embroidery of branches around its edges. A strict puritan color palette of black, gray, and white, added to the ominous feeling of the collection.
Tunics with funnel necklines and linear coats, worn over floor-sweeping dresses.
The standout looks were based on simple T-shirt shapes with full-length skirts, which had an ease about them that was new for the designer.
The pièce de la résistance which that looked like woven raffia, on closer inspection proved to be garbage bags, shredded, twisted, turned into decorative fringes and presenting a cool takes on recycling.
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