Per Götesson designs for the sort of man who’s on a journey; both through the every day and within his inner self. His clothes are delicate, fluid, poetic – often cut in drastic shapes and interwoven with techniques once only reserved for womenswear. Whilst fashion moves more and more into the digital realm, Götesson’s designs are best experienced in the flesh. Each intricacy should be explored by hand. So as the world went into lockdown and it was announced London Fashion Week Men’s was to be scrapped for a digital, gender-neutral fashion week, Götesson had to re-think how to bring the intimacy of his clothes to a virtual space.
The result was The Ghost of Gulliver, a collaborative film featuring pieces from each of Götesson’s past collections, including an ethereal display of jewellery courtesy of Götesson’s partner, Husam El Odeh. Inspired by Jonathan Swift’s novel Gulliver’s Travels, stylist Gary Armstrong and photographer Jessie Adams were tasked to find abandoned spaces in seaside locations for the project. 10 contributor Patrick Waugh then created collage overlays that transformed empty sands into dreamlike vortexes, placing model Jethro Sapon within these idyllic lands.
Created in isolation, the film evokes a clear sense of togetherness in a time we need it most. We’re completely in the dark as to what fashion’s future is going to look like. How we are able to create moving forward is going to be radically transformed. Although we are entering the unknown, The Ghost of Gulliver is a beacon of hope that beauty in collaboration will always prevail – no matter the circumstances.
