Unit X: Throup Revisited

Scrolling through my blog, I came across a blog entry that I posted about Aitor Throup a while ago as research for my very first project. The entry consists of a very short paragraph and it’s not difficult to tell that it was hastily written in the run-up to a blog submission deadline! It simply does not do justice to his work or my obsession with this guy! So at long last I will attempt to remedy this.

I probably only came across Throup’s work about a year or so ago whilst flicking through a ‘Fashion Designer’s Now’  book, or some title along those lines, and I was immediately taken by his illustrative style and the futuristic designs that brought those figures to life. The collection that struck me most turned out to be the one for his MA collection at the Royal College of Art entitled ‘When Football Hooligans become Hindu Gods’.  The collection is an experimental take on generic utility garments that have imbedded within them a strong sense of narrative and wit. The narrative was that of a journey of redemption and transformation amongst a group of football hooligans who face remorse after their violent attack of a Hindu boy. The collection; with its transformative hood features and play on utility garments idiosyncratic to the subculture in question documents this journey in a way that is avant-garde in its vision but also retains accessibility as wearable garments. This was perhaps what draws me to his work as with many high profile designers the balance between form and function is often lost.

Since then, I have followed Throup’s career on and off and was very excited to learn that the designer would be revisiting Manchester School of Art in honour of its 175^th anniversary. The event was a conversation between the designer and Manchester Evening News diary editor Dianne Bourne. There was a lot of hype around the event, and rightly so. The talk was recorded as part of the Young Creative Chevrolet Lecture series and ticketed on Eventbrite and everything! It might even be said that as one of Manchester School of Art’s most successful alumni, Aitor Throup is kind of a big deal!

Luckily, to save me from rattling on about the whole conversation, I have found the full video of the event on Youtube (below). But there were some things that I learned about the designer that were particularly inspiring.

What was particularly interesting was his refusal to be classed as a Fashion Designer. Whilst he does not deny that he is interested in his garments being used in the industry, he seems to be very much against the cyclical nature of Fashion. Here, I think he had a very valid point as the advent of seasonal trends demands new products every few months only to make its predecessors redundant. I find myself feeling really rather guilty around about fashion week because I feel that as a fashion student it is probably my duty to keep on top of all the new trends. This is easier said than done and frankly I don’t even know how much I care! There is very little focus on longevity and that is something Aitor Throup hopes to tackle within his work.  What was most resonant about his design philosophy was what he describes as ‘justified design’.

He believes that nothing should exist without a reason, be it justifiable through narrative or function.  He prefers the label of ‘Product Designer’ or ‘Engineer’ to be associated with his practice, claiming that he has become a Fashion Designer only by default! Particularly, he is interested in new methods of construction that serve to solve the existing and as yet undefined problems in everyday garments.  In this way, Throup is probably one of the most exciting designers today and his work shows that it is possible to create something beautiful that is not entirely frivolous.