Tim Hamilton is one of my absolute favorite menswear designers. After launching his menswear line in 2006, Tim has quickly become a household name, recently becoming CFDA-sanctioned by winning the 2009 Swarovski Award for Menswear.

I somehow managed to find myself at his viewing on Saturday to promote his S/S 2010 collection. Though the designer now shows in Paris, and his collection was seen on the runway this past July, the event still drew an enormous turnout, as hundreds filed in and out of the gallery space on the 22nd floor of the AT&T building in Tribeca. Although I went expecting to see visual displays of the most recent collection, the event instead featured two videos done in collaboration with artist and photographer Collier Schorr.

The videos titled “Rope and Climb” featured male models dressed in modest Tim Hamilton clothing, doing exactly as the name of the film suggest…climbing a rope. The videos were very abstract, and provocative to say the least. Though different from what I initially anticipated, I found the videos to be a pleasant surprise. I think such projects that fuse fashion with fine art speak well for the fashion community, as many often condemn fashion for its superficiality, and fail to remember that many designers are creative geniuses with a vision and perspective as strong as any fine artist.

Here’s an interesting article from Business of Fashion on the new film installation trend, and its influence on the industry:

Below are some stills from the video. Still working to see if the full video is available online.