A date with Aitor Throup

Aitor Throup's aesthetic cannot, apparently, be contained within the cyclical fashion system of the spring/summer and autumn/winter seasons. Yet the designer managed to pull off his first ‘full’ collection on the second day of men’s fashion week in London. The venue, a backstreet studio in the regenerated (yet still satisfactorily sleazy) London neighbourhood of Kings Cross was as much a metaphor as the show itself.  Both encouraged the fash-pack out of their comfort zone, in to a place that looked at first to be abstract and dark but was in fact optimistic and elevating. His notoriously conceptual angle clearly appealed to the gothic aestheticism of the ever-elegant Diane Pernet, who certainly approved as she snapped photos on her personal camera. Editor-at-Large of Style.com Tim Blanks and Dylan Jones were also in attendance as ostentatious techicolour fashion folk sipping Tuesday’s first glass of fizz prodded and pondered faceless mannequins clad in black amour and bound to their position by aerial wires and metal frames. Kasabian's Serge Pizzorno provided the soundscape for Aitor Throup's morning showcase, spinning the desks at his dj booth adorned with floating black skulls. Entitled ‘New Object Research’ the show was as much a conceptual manifesto on the interaction between product design and cultural communities, as it was a display of fashion (although, one may argue, in doing this he is essentially exploring the fundamental premise of ‘fashion’ itself). As Aitor explained: “My work can engage people whether they're interested in fashion, product design or conceptual thinking. It doesn't bother me what kind of person reacts to it.” Though vague regarding his demographic, the Buenos Aires-born, Burnley-bred artist is scientific in his line of enquiry, uncompromising in his creative process, and candid about his employment of a systematic methodology. Product integrity, Throup’s thesis argues, should not conflict with conceptual integrity. His objective is to make the transition from concept to product –from art to design – centred on distilling, not diffusing. Elevating, not relegating. The best example of this was found in a rucksack. “In a climate of fear,” the designer explained, “one particular accessory has developed a negative and misleading symbolic status.” “The black rucksack is perhaps the most politically charged wearable object of current times, especially when worn by a non-Caucasian person.” Though perfectly functional as a multi-compartment accessory, the upside-down skull represents misconstrued threat. It is this idea of ‘conceptual functionalism’ - where functional design elements are exaggerated in order to convey a message through the product - that has given Aitor a reputation for intellectuality. The clothes themselves evoked a street-wear sensibility. Hooded parkas, gathered trousers and heavy wool overcoats were abundant with pockets, flaps, poppers, straps, and exaggerated zips. Hats and gloves were built in to the outfits to create a second skin, a protective outer shell of fabric. The fact that the designer himself views the collection as a “problem solving process” is perhaps underselling his clothing’s potential to be go beyond the transcendental to something altogether more tangible, animated and (dare I say it) commercial.