What is a designer to do with 200 years of heritage weighing down on his shoulders?
www.pringlescotland.comLondonFashion WeekFashion Brand
What is a designer to do with 200 years of heritage weighing down on his shoulders?
What is a designer to do with 200 years of heritage weighing down on his shoulders? Especially when a couple hundred yards down the road from his show space, there is an exhibition celebrating those centuries with images that are so entrancing that the present seems like an almost superfluous proposition.
Massimo Nicosia maybe took the path of least resistance today by offering a Pringle of Scotland collection that was so low-key, so sweater-and-slacks underplayed that it could in no way compete with legacy. That was a little disappointing. A uniform darkness prevailed in Nicosia's lineup. Sure, there was plenty of technique in the clothes he showed.
Unlikely textures were woven together in pleasing ways. Embossed leather and macramé highlighted artisanal know-how. Lace with the toxic sheen of an oil spill was a particularly special effect. But it was all so black. Anyone seeking a celebration of two centuries would have folded in the face of miserable models and a deadening monochrome.
Nicosia has proved his sensitivity to Pringle's past with his previous collections, but his challenge will always be to integrate himself into that historical equation. On the evidence of this anniversary show, he has a way to go. And he could—and should—go far out.