David Shrigley Learned It All From Ugly Betty
Pringle of Scotland has been in the business of cashmere twin-sets and other such woolly items since 1870. Once sported by Brigitte Bardot, Grace Kelly and Margot Fonteyn; and now by Madonna, Sophie Dahl, Claudia Schiffer, Libery Ross, and stars of golf and soccer, Pringle of Scotland is a heritage label for those seeking the highland. For the 25th anniversary of London Fashion Week, Pringle has tapped into Scotland’s current cool export, a thriving underdog art scene, by sewing up a collaboration with Glasgow-based artist David Shrigley. Known for his sketchy, loopy sculptures (e.g., a headless Ostrich, a bronze pile of poo and a taxidermy cat holding a sign stating “I’m dead”) and for his doodle-line dark-minded drawings, this is the artist’s first foray into fashion. “Everything I know about fashion, I learned from watching Ugly Betty,” he confides. “But Pringle wanted a Scottish artist and I am the Scottish artist they chose. I was hoping to get a free sweater so I agreed.” “They said ‘do some drawings about twin sets,'” Shrigley goes on to explain. “And I said, ‘What’s a twin set?’ And they told me and I did some drawings about twin sets.” With that guidance, Shipley designed a series of brightly hued tee-shirts emblazoned with an adorable drawing depicting a clutch of stylized naked people worshiping Pringle’s signature twin set under the banner “Highly Desirable” written in Shrigley’s squiggly hand, with a blacked out space between the I and R.” Thankfully, the worshipful little people in his cartoon know what ‘twin sets’ are. And the big fashion folk who share Shringley’s characters’ appreciation for Pringle’s twin sets are sure to snatch up his tee-shirts too.