Catwalk Party with Fashion Designer Pierre Garroudi

Words by Amy Fisher. Photographs by Lin Vitali and Vincent Au.

Note: The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of RetoxMagazine.com

LFW Pierre Garroudi AW11

The AW11 Pierre Garroudi collection was showcased at his remarkable, characteristic design gallery at the Arches near London Bridge during London Fashion Week, February 2011. Set beneath the ground shaking train tracks on Crucifix Lane, the arch-shaped, charismatic gallery has a captivatingly rustic essence. The cold air, damp smell, crumbling brick walls with peeling white paint and white corrugated metal give this place a real back street, exclusive, urban feel. A block white catwalk protruded down the centre of the gallery, its clean, smooth lines a real contrast to the workably inelegant surroundings. Internationally acclaimed DJ Markus beat his renowned, funky house music around the room as tiny little cupcakes with cute purple swirls of icing were served to the ever growing audience of uber-cool, super sophisticated and fabulous fashionistas. The entire Garroudi experience had the vibe of an exclusive VIP underground party where only the young, rich and beautiful get in.

The cool kids on the front row of the much-awaited AW11 fashion show were dressed to the nines, in not much lesser inched heels, tiny mini dresses and fur shrugs. Just looking at these beautiful, skinny people enduring the cold in the name of all that’s fabulous made you feel all in all rather nippy, and let’s just say the show itself wasn’t much different. The barely there garments left little to the imagination and hung off the skinny curves of the models – quite literally, with not one but two models flashing their own nippy bits to the crowd.

The Pierre Garroudi show itself could only be described as a work of art, a spectacular visual masterpiece. The haute couture designer’s signature choice of a solo colour palette was prevalent once again, this season it was an array of purple shades from lilac to bright and deep tones. The fashion designer’s signature choice of avant-garde models were styled with tall, purple, 18th century inspired wigs that had been dishevelled, with some scraped up into fantastic castle shapes and oldy-worldy style crosses. Others adorned extravagant head pieces made from the same manipulated fabrics as the garments. Modestly natural make-up was vamped up with a flash of bright lilac eye shadow and garments were teamed with sky-scraping, metallic purple mules and knee-high boots that were wrapped and decorated with charming little grape vines.

Models worked it on the runway, each with their own distinctive character. Pausing at least 3 to 4 times, they moved their arms and twisted their bodies in an alien-like manner, gazing into space as in some form of trance or eerie dream world.

Pierre Garroudi’s collection commenced with dresses that were folded and weaved into giant, crochet-like patterns that created volume away from the body with large holes revealing bare skin beneath creating a sexy, no boundaries look. Others were folded tucks that cascaded down, with some creating expertly fathomed circular shapes. Purple and lilac knits were manipulated into volumous shapes with sexy, revealing cuts. Lilac gingham prints added a light and playful touch to the jaw dropping, sexy, backless dresses that skimmed the models’ sides in an ever so seductive manner. The final look of the daring AW11 collection came in an abundance of the most beautiful shade of purple chiffon that was tightly ruffled and folded forming the most spectacular, unexpected shapes with glorious volume and structure. Gasps of awe waved through the air as these final, aesthetically pleasing masterpieces blessed the runway for a brief moment.

For now one can only dream about and wait ever so impatiently for Pierre Garroudi’s next, highly anticipated fashion collection which, following his past 12 collections showcased during London Fashion Week will be indisputably innovative and awe-inspiring.

Pierre Garroudi AW11 catwalk photos - See more images from Pierre Garroudi's AW11 showcase.