FIERCE OR FARCE?: November 2008

I am beyond excited to report that one of my favorite designers of all time, Pam Hogg, is back after a 9-year hiatus with a new label entitled "HOGG COUTURE" available exclusively at Browns London. Don't know who she is? Let me clue you in...

From her MySpace page:

HOGG infiltrated the elitist ranks of the conventional fashion world with her wild brand of outrageous creations, establishing a highly respected fashion career. Her meteoric rise to fame came in the mid eighties after studies of Fine Art and Printed Textiles at the Glasgow School of Art, where she won two medals, two scholarships, and subsequent Masters of Art degree at the Royal College of Art in London.

She was an extremely important and influential figure in the London club scene who completely shaped the "look" of the 80s and 90s underground. This bitch understood the definition of 'fierce', and paved the way for a generation of young designers to come.

Check out this fabulous clip from YouTube....a retrospective of her collections from 1987-2000 (starting with the later collections).... After all, pictures speak much much louder than any words I can say.

a/w 1985 runway......

a/w 1986 collection "Hyper-Hyper" ad....

s/s 1986 "Dalice in Wonderland"

Here's another video of the intro from her ICONIC "School for Scandal"/Vogue collection (ca 1989-90?), featuring the London Vogueing group the House of Child featuring Les Child, Roy Brown, Marc Massive and George Long:

......WORK!!!

Aside from the fashion, Pam is also a musician (check her group Hoggdoll's MySpace).... She was in an Acid House group in '88-89 called The Garden of Eden (with Steve Jackson, Darrell Lockhart, Angela McKlusky and Mark Tinley), who had an eponymous underground single which remains one of my favorite House tracks of all time....the video for this tune is the video of the week right now. Check it out! "We don't need no E...XTC is you and me!"

OK, back to the HOGG COUTURE collection......if you didn't check the link at Browns yet, the collection is comprised of Pam Hogg's signatures: patchworked, second-skin dresses and catsuits in metallic spandex and silk. Can you say ferocious? I can. Not for the faint of heart. Here are a few of my picks: