Gareth Pugh Runway Review | Fashion Week Fall 2013

Who other than Gareth Pugh could make dark futurism look so good? For his Fall 2013 collection, Pugh abandoned the brief flirtation with the Middle Ages he showed last season and went back to basics — or at least back to his basics. The clothing here was sculptural, dark, and edgy, and it ran the gamut from minimally decorated to extremely ornate.

The show went from light to dark, starting with a series of white pieces — gowns, or floor-length skirts paired with jackets — with golden branches snaking up from the hems. Then black made its way in, as did gray and a deep, moody blue. Many of the garments featured necklines that stood up on their own, as if Pugh wanted the audience to focus on his models' faces and wild hair instead of on his clothing. But any competition those hairdos might have offered couldn't hold a candle to the black masterworks that ended the show.