Gareth Pugh with Daphne Guinness in a Time Out shoot
Word has it that Gareth Pugh is the first name on a PPR list of designers wanted to head Alexander McQueen now that Lee McQueen has passed away. They own a controlling 51% of McQueen so one would assume that what they say goes as long as Pugh agrees.
I had Pugh on top of a list of potential designers who I thought would be most likely to take over as creative director. After all Pugh and McQueen have similar aesthetics and a different way of looking at fashion to the rest of us. But does Pugh have the tailoring skills and the strength to work at a major design house? It’s not for everyone, McQueen himself did not enjoy his time at Givenchy, Tom Ford hated YSL and the great Yves Saint Laurent didn’t last long at Christian Dior. Pugh has developed into a strong designer over the last few seasons as his runway collections become increasingly more wearable (not in the bad ‘oh it’s wearable’ way) but the fashion world is watching. The house of Alexander McQueen is under a microscope as every little movement and announcement is talked about and analyzed.
Is Pugh tough enough to withstand the pressure of designing multiple women’s, men’s, diffusion and accessory collections for McQueen while following the brand ethos all while making the collection his? (Not to mention his own collections.) Fashionista thinks PRR should stop the main RTW line for a few years and keep the accessories line, McQ, and Puma collaborations going before reviving the brand after 5 years. But PRR are a business and they opened McQueen boutique’s in New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas (and a planned six boutiques in India according to a release in 2008) when they bought into McQueen which means they will want a collection to drop in store every season and keep the brand in the black.
What do you think? Who else do you think has what it takes to tackle the task ahead at Alexander McQueen with the fashion world watching every move like a hawk?
UPDATE:
A press release was reportedly sent out by Gareth Pugh’s PR saying that he has not been in talks with the Gucci Group/PPR to take over as creative director of Alexander McQueen.
