Pringle of Scotland London Fashion Week AW10 for Dazed Digital

http://www.dazeddigital.com/Fashion/article/6760/1/Pringle_of_Scotland_AW_10-11

PRINGLE OF SCOTLAND AW 10-11
Creative Director Clare Waight Keller brings us another, of course Scottish-inspired show
Text by David Hellqvist | Published 24 February 2010


Old timers Pringle are currently one of Scotland’s most attractive and popular exports. With Fife-born Prime Minister Gordon Brown in constant foul mood, it seems Pringle’s role as Highland Ambassador have doubled – or even trebled – in importance. Luckily, Creative Director Clare Waight Keller shows no signs of disappointing press, buyers, customers, or Scots in general.


Celebrating 195 years of Argyle patterns and twinsets with actress Tilda Swinton as honour model was not a bad start to their anniversary year. Add to that a heavily cemented ‘Special Relationship’ with Hyde Park’s Serpentine Gallery, and Pringle was in a good position as they showed their AW1011 collection on Monday evening.


As icing on the cake, Keller sent out an accomplished set of clothes, making the heart of each present Scot beat slightly harder and faster. Native staple pieces, like sheepskin, kilt-esque skirts and heavy knitwear, shared the stage with an eye-catching and fresh silhouette in the shape of very loose trousers with over sized pockets.


Flight jackets adorned in massive amounts of beautiful fur, cable knit tops and angularly cut evening dresses came out in black, grey, beige and moss green colours. Towards the end, the more formal pieces even dared emerald green and shimmering gold shades. One of the many catwalk hits included knit duffel coats sitting on top of double-breasted coats. Simply draped dresses flowed freely in the Serpentine gallery; fashion and art in perfect harmony!


Dazed Digital: What was your main inspiration behind the show?
Clare Waight Keller: A lot of Scottish influences of course, but it was also about pairing it down and playing with proportions. Small tops and bigger bottoms!
I also wanted to mix up textures, so we used tweed and tartans, but mixed it with leathers and shearling.


DD: Did you have any other points of reference other than general Scottishness?
Clare Waight Keller: More than a theme it was a statement of cleanliness and structure.


DD: The wide bottoms, were they also an attempt to get away from the skinny silhouette?
Clare Waight Keller: Yes, I wanted to bring some new dimensions onto the catwalk, because there has been so much of the other fit. I wanted it to be extreme in a completely different way.


DD: Were the skirt pleats a reference to kilts?
Clare Waight Keller: Yeah, but also a way of breaking up and deconstructing the kilt into many layers to give it more movement and abstract quality.


DD: Lots of knitwear – you must love the AW collections?
Clare Waight Keller: Yes absolutely! It’s our key season!


DD: Any favourite pieces from the collection?
Clare Waight Keller: Many – especially the sweater dresses with the velvet back and the big pants

Pringle of Scotland Loves Serpentine Gallery - Dazed Digital Interview

http://www.dazeddigital.com/ArtsAndCulture/article/6243/1/Pringle_at_Serpentine


PRINGLE'S 195 COLLABORATIONS
Pringle classics such as the twinset and the argyle print will be reinterpreted by a select group of artists in a unique collaboration with the Serpentine.
Text by David Hellqvist | Published 18 January 2010




Art and fashion have always gone hand in hand. These days, we often see museums and galleries exhibiting fashion, in one form or another. It’s a way of recognising the significance of fashion – not only how much this form of expression matters to our society today, but also to what degree fashion designers are viewed as artists.


One prime example of this fusion is Pringle of Scotland’s anniversary collaboration with Hyde Park’s Serpentine Gallery, which sees them work with such dignities as actress Tilda Swinton, Turner Prize winner Richard Wright and illustrator David Shrigley. The Scottish knitwear label is celebrating a respectable 195 years, and it’s also four decades since the Serpentine – one of London’s premium centre’s for contemporary art and architecture – opened its doors. Through a shared love of everything Scottish, the two organisations have twinned for a unique celebration.


The two cultural institutions – here represented by Pringle CEO Mary-Adair Macaire, the Serpentine’s Director Julia Peyton-Jones, and her co-director Hans Ulrich Obrist – have invited a select group of artists to create new versions of true Pringle classics, such as the twinset and Argyle pattern. “When we thought of art galleries to help us celebrate our anniversary, The Serpentine was first on the list,” says Pringle’s Macaire of the collaboration. “The Serpentine is all about ‘art for all’ and ‘design for all’ and it is very timely that we have our first exhibition of design going on at the moment," says Peyton-Jones. "It’s about looking about what we do in a different way, and it’s the same as what Pringle is doing right now."


The list of people brought together by The Serpentine to work with Pringle reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of the art world. All of the artists – which also include photographer Ryan McGinley, filmmaker Luke Fowler, writer Alasdair Gray, designer Julien David and artists Douglas Gordon and Stephen Sutcliffe – have a connection to The Serpentine Gallery but, more importantly, to Scotland. They have all been tasked with the re-interpretation of the iconic Pringle pieces, and we eagerly await the result.


Julia Peyton-Jones gives us a quick peek-a-boo into what one of them is up to: “Douglas Gordon is working on version the Pringle twinset – one for women and one for men. It perfectly sums up how these artists are looking at the world in a different way. The lightness of touch is very important, but it is all about being playful!”