Gareth Pugh & Nick Knight Unleash Bizarre Spring '18 Fashion Film

Fashion films are the new runway show. A week after Kenzo and Natasha Lyonne wowed us with a bizarre clown-centric film about Maya Rudolph discovering her soul and pushing us toward an existential crisis, avant-garde maestro Gareth Pugh has unleashed a 16-minute art film to show off his new collection.

Related | Natasha Lyonne's Surreal Kenzo Film Takes Maya Rudolph to Clown School

For spring '18, Pugh teamed with famed photographer Nick Knight for a film that debuted at the BFI IMAX, which is reportedly the biggest movie screen in Europe. Knight brought on choreographer Wayne McGregor for the film, as well as performance artist Olivier de Sagazan. In the beginning of the piece, Sagazan and Pugh smear clay over each other's faces and bodies until they're completely covered like some high fashion ritual spa day.

It's not until two-thirds of the way into the film that the clothes are unveiled, beginning with a gag-worthy red-haired model in a metallic red trench coat. Eventually, more models enter the red-and-black mirrored room until, suddenly, holy music begins to blare and the film shifts to gold and white light. We won't spoil the finale but, between this and the Kenzo film, we're ready for absurdist, artistic fashion films to become the new normal.