How radical it is in the era of overtly elaborated storytelling to just focus on garments — not even looks but wardrobe archetypes?
Even if that was MM6 Maison Margiela’s intention for spring, summer rave sultriness came to mind looking at the bare wet chests most male models flaunted underneath tailored blazers and the sleek legs striding energetically from under ripped strapless minidresses worn with tall belts by the women.
Set to heavy techno music on a vast, concrete runway space, the collection unfurled rhythmically as if these were young types leaving the club with their enveloping sunglasses and flip flops on an exhaustingly hot summer night, circa 2002.
Toying with dissonance, the show started with more relatable and current pieces, a khaki trenchcoat, patchwork jeans and a blazer, a shawl-collared tuxedo frock and sleek waistcoats layered under formal blazers.
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It then evolved into what the creative team perhaps considers wardrobe staples: the heavily ripped off jeans, the sleeveless overshirt and a slew of luxuriously distressed leather outerwear pieces.
Martin Margiela echoed in the DIY feeling of the overpainted, elongated blazers and biker jackets or Dr. Martens boots, drenching in layers of crackled white paint that provided a vintage feel. Ditto for the baby blue plastic bag draped on the torso and the plastic-covered shaft dresses — both suggesting that fashion is in one’s hands to ply into a style statement.
The show notes read: “This collection is an exercise in making fashion through each single piece….What stays is the non-narrative sense of matter-of-factness.”
The concept was theoretically great but didn’t come across as straightforwardly.
