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DEMONTAGE Talk to Parc About showing at LFW during covid

Parc menswear co-founders Paul Rawson and Anthony Campbell first crossed paths on the MA Fashion Course at Central St. Martins in 2005 under the tutelage of industry legend Louise Wilson OBE. Their following years were spent accruing a design and styling clientele of some of the most prominent names in British fashion and the arts including Richard Nicoll x Linder Sterling, Martine Rose, and Bodymap for Michael Clark. The pair have also nurtured and supported hundreds of fashion students as course leaders of institutions including the University of Westminster and the London College of Fashion



Parc was conceived in 2017 when the designers were invited to exhibit as part of the Queer Art(ists) Now exhibition at the renowned hub for emerging artists and designers, the Archive Gallery, east London. Their masculinity-querying series of multimedia artworks focused around crystal-encrusted jockstraps (worn by post-punk band HM Ltd in their music video for Pictures of You) organically became the prelude to the inaugural parc menswear collection. Series 2 continued the music industry love affair with parc, dressing rising stars Arlo Parks and 220Kid.

To date, the brand has worked with artisans and accessories and textile designers including James Millar, Rarethread, Noel Stewart, Jodie Ruffle, and Carol Wiseman. As a collective, they developed and produced the rich fabrications, embellishments, and accessories that rapidly established the parc aesthetic.





DEMONTAGE: How have you adapted to showing at LFW?

PARC: Showing during digital fashion week gives a certain sense of democracy to the viewers which is really exciting. This led us to rethink how we connect with that audience and what is relevant for fashion now.

DEMONTAGE: What were the difficulties in showing digitally?

PARC: The main issues we have faced are timings, restrictions enforced by COVID 19 Guidelines, and the effect on sales. Showing digitally means that collections have to be ready much sooner, in order to shoot art-direct and edit a digital outcome. Within our Series 2 collection, we made a short film, showcasing our collection on friends on Hackney Marshes, working with other creatives in our network to produce something very lo-fi, fun, and uplifting. This was during the first lockdown when restrictions had eased slightly, and the first time we’d all been together for a while. With Series 3, we shot on location on the coldest day of the year, but again working with collaborators to produce something really true to the parc brand. The government restrictions meant that only 4 people are allowed to be on a shoot at a time so lots of organisation and sharing roles and multi-tasking.



" Showing during digital fashion week gives a certain sense of democracy to the viewers which is really exciting.

This led us to rethink how we connect with that audience and what is relevant for fashion now."




DEMONTAGE: Do you have any positives to showing work digitally?

PARC: Having a digital platform provides another place for designers to show and promote their work, under the umbrella of LFW. Being part of LFW digital has allowed us to produce collections and show them in our own way. Many designers are finding the current climate challenging, so we’re all having to adapt and change the way we show in order to remain current. The nature of designing is to problem solve and find new solutions; it has produced some really exciting outcomes.




DEMONTAGE: What did you show at the recent LFW?

PARC: For February LFW we showed our new collection, Series 3 Auto -Porter. As we were working in the middle of another lockdown, and Brexit changes, we made a conscious decision to use what we had in our studio, only ordering trimmings. Over the previous seasons, we had ordered sampling fabrics from Italian mills that we hadn’t taken forward, prints that remained unused as well as garments we had previously developed and shelved. This meant that we could create something that felt very honest and sustainable, we feel that there are many practices explored during this process that we will take forward to future collections. We also showcased our jewellery range, which has been in development for 18 months - parc x Carol Wiseman, with the restrictions of the pandemic a number of the artisans we were working with had to close their studios for a period of time, so delays are inevitable. We feel incredibly proud of the final outcome, especially in terms of the process and collective energy.




DEMONTAGE: What advice would you give a current fashion student and or graduate showing their work digitally for the first time?


PARC: Be open to finding and working in ways that are different from the traditional methods of presenting work, the industry has changed, although I think there is still a desire to have the experience of a traditional runway, there are so many new and innovative ways to present fashion.




PHOTOSHOOT CREDITS: PARC - SERIES 3 / AUTO PORTER

Jewellery: Parc X Carol Wiseman, Photography: Martin Zahringer

Model@ Otto, IMG Models, Grooming: Loius Bryne

Art Direction: Christopher Colville - Walker


Find out more: https://parclondon.com/


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