Christie's invited creative voices to reflect on the continuing influence of art history on contemporary fashion, art, and design.⁣ British fashion designer Gareth Pugh talks about his practice and inspiration in the first episode of this new interview series.

Filmed in the National Gallery in London, Pugh directs the camera to Millais’ Ophelia, a dramatic nineteenth-century painting that has inspired him to incorporate contrasts—beauty and death, light and dark—in his previous shows

“I think it’s really important to have an eye for what’s gone before in order to reinvent what the future might look like,” Pugh says. “Historical fashion is something that we look at time and time again.”

Born in Sunderland in 1981, he graduated from Central St Martins before launching his eponymous label in 2005. He has since shown at Paris, London and NY Fashion Weeks, collaborated with such prestigious institutions as the Opera Garnier and the Met’s Costume Institute, and received global recognition for his approach to redefining modern luxury.

In 2018, Pugh and his long-time partner and co-creative director Carson McColl founded Hard + Shiny, a London-based creative studio specializing in fashion, film, stage design, and experiential entertainment.

This is part one of a series of films devised and directed by London-based director Freddie Leyden in collaboration with Christie's.