Gareth Pugh

British designer Gareth Pugh landed his first fashion publication feature in 2003 when a design from his graduate collection for Central Saint Martins was selected for the cover of cult British youth magazine Dazed & Confused. Renowned for his fantastical and futuristic design aesthetic, Pugh has garnered an elite following from influential industry insiders such as Anna Wintour and in 2011 was selected to guest present at the prestigious Pitti Immagine showcase in Florence, where he presented a special collection via a video installation produced in collaboration with Ruth Hogben.

The talented designer was also awarded the prestigious Andam award in 2008 in recognition of his rising prominence within the fashion industry. Pugh opened his first boutique in Hong Kong in 2010 and has been stocked in prominent international stores such as Side by Side in Japan, Opening Ceremony in New York and Dover Street Market in London.

Pugh began his career as a teenager working as a costume designer for the English National Youth Theatre. Having attended the City of Sunderland College where he began his formal fashion education, Pugh completed his studies at Central Saint Martins, graduating in 2003. Following his cover on Dazed & Confused, Pugh was selected to participate in reality TV show Fashion House, but left before production ended.

Having caught the attention of Fashion East organisers following a showcase at an Alternative Fashion Week held at London nightclub Kashpoint, Pugh made his London Fashion Week debut alongside other budding designers in Autumn 2005. The collection received praise from critics and attracted significant press attention. This foray secured the emerging designer a sponsorship from the BFC's NewGen programme.

Pugh held his first solo show at fashion week for Autumn/Winter 2006 and, following a sponsorship from Parisian fashion consultant Michèle Lamy, whom the young creative had met while interning for Rick Owens at luxury fur label Revillon in 2004, presented two more collections in London. In January 2009, Pugh presented his first menswear collection at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and soon after received financial backing from luxury giant LVMH, presenting his first live Paris Fashion Week show for Spring/Summer 2010.

Pugh’s collections have been featured in a live showcase at a Fashion in Motion exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and were also featured in a Dazed & Confused exhibition in 2004. The talented designer’s creations were also exhibited in the 2008 exhibition of Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy at The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The designer created the costumes for Kylie Minogue’s Showgirl greatest hits and homecoming tours and his designs have also been work in music videos by Beyoncé and Roisin Murphy.

The designer has an ongoing collaboration with choreographer Wayne McGregor and designing costumes for an opera at the Palais Garnier. He currently shows during London Fashion Week.