Top image: Still from “Llorando” by Gareth Pugh FW17

Gareth Pugh releases Llorando, a short fashion film to prelude his FW17 show taking place this Saturday in London. Directed by long-term collaborators Ruth Hogben and Andrea Gelardin, the film features Latin American singer/songwriter Rebekah Del Rio, who rose to fame during the noughties for her cameo in David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive.

GARETH PUGH A/W 2017 LLORANDO from Gareth Pugh on Vimeo.

Pugh pays homage to Del Rio’s Mulholland Drive performance, where she sings Llorando (a Spanish-language version of Roy Orbison’s Crying) before collapsing on stage. This time, the smokey-eyed Del Rio resembles a 1930s starlet as she sings the intense a capella from the balcony of a brutalist estate – more Brunswick Centre than Santa Monica. The film also includes a quote from William Shakespeare’s King Lear that reads; “Tis the time’s plague when madmen lead the blind”.  Charged with political undertones, Pugh describes the scene as “an iconic visual conceit, and a fitting metaphor for truth in a post-truth arena.”

With Pugh’s FW17 show taking place at Collins Music Hall in Islington, all signs point towards a theatrical presentation – just what we’d expect, Gareth.

Gareth Pugh’s FW17 presentation will take place on Saturday 18th February at 20:00pm. Stay tuned to HERO for full fashion week coverage from London, Milan and Paris.