Jackie Nickerson Gift, 2013

I came across Gareth Pugh and his AW14 Paris Collection and was immediately drawn to the materials and shapes he had used like the plastic, calico and creamy beige tones that aren’t usually used on the catwalk. When researching for his influences I came across an article [1] that cited a photograph (Gift, 2013) taken by Jackie Nickerson as one of his influences. The photo was taken from her ‘Terrain’ series which was based on southern and eastern African farms and focuses on the ‘materiality of labour’ as mentioned on her website [2]. The particular image was of a woman who was obstructed by plastic sheeting standing in the middle of a farm, and it was this context that I think inspired Pugh. Nickerson did this to describe the relationship between the farmworker and their environment, which to me could suggest she was trying to convey that for many workers, their work is entirely consuming and their identity as a human outside of the farm is very unknown. I feel Pugh picked up on this and portrayed this using those materials as he stated in an interview with Lou Stoppard that “It was a bit like hitting the reset button this season” [3] almost like he wanted to re-identify with how he worked so that it was more raw and untouched and showed a different side to his design process, which can be seen through the use of very similar materials in this collection. Also in the image the plastic is offset by the natural farm surroundings and gives a stark contrast. Plastic being a man-made product, links exactly to what she was trying to convey and I feel it works perfectly in the image to show how much the materials these people are making, have an impact on the environment but also themselves. Pugh then translated this onto the body, a very natural being, for fashion design and shows how much she inspired his work.

Bibliography

1) Brandes, B (July 2014) Gareth Pugh’s Labyrinth  http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/20252/1/gareth-pugh-s-labyrinth  Accessed: 1st November 2017

2) O’Toole, P. Moving between Land and Subject                  http://www.jackienickerson.com/work.php?pid=1&mode=3   Accessed: 1st November 2017

3) Paris Women’s Wear A/W 2014 Gareth Pugh http://showstudio.com/collection/gareth_pugh_paris_womenswear_a_w_2014     Accessed: 1st November 2017