See Gareth Pugh’s futuristic opera costumes

It seems Gareth Pugh’s talents know no bounds. From working as a costume designer at the National Youth Theatre at the age of 14, he has had many crossover experiences in the world of the stage – a natural fit for the designer, who is known for his often avant-garde collections. Already contributing to ballet and theatre, it was last September that he made his first step into the world of opera. After designing the costumes for Eliogabalo at the Palais Garnier, Pugh is taking on the second – this time for a futuristic adaptation of Antigona, creatively directed by Turner prize-nominated artist Goshka Macuga.

“It was one of those ideas that sounded quite mad at first,” Pugh told Dazed of his initial reaction to the production (there are certain characters who roam the stage on Segways). “But seeing it all come together and the idea of reframing it made sense.” Far from the original baroque-inspired play, Macuga’s adaptation is visually sparse, allowing Pugh’s costumes to dictate the tone. No doubt the futuristic, cage-like designs that engulf the character’s bodies will have no problem doing that. 

In addition to the costumes, the British designer collaborated with Werkflow, a digital arts studio who have reimagined the designs as if they were part of a video game. Working closely with the studio’s co-founder, Tom Wandrag, Pugh didn’t actually get a chance to show any of the costumes to help with the creation. “I only had sketches and I was only able to talk through how everything should look,” he said. “So the visualisation is actually constructed digitally.” Add in the space-age environments created by Macuga, and viewers can explore the video game-esque characters and their costumes in 360-degrees by scrolling, clicking and zooming. 

View all of the interactive content here