Coming from the blockbuster Prada show to the dark, raw space where the MM6 show was staged, the atmosphere almost felt like an anticlimax—as if the fashion time capsule had gone back a few decades. That’s how shows were held back then: an edited audience, spare mise en scène, clothes experienced up close. No fancy distractions. No crowds outside screaming in hysterics at celebrities. Being plunged into such a rewinding-the-clock experience stirred mixed feelings—the sharpest being a sort of disorienting, dystopian nostalgia.
The collection the creative team sent out this season had nothing nostalgic about it though; rather, it was an example of cohesive clarity, and of how revered historic codes can be refreshed and moved forward. Gestures, posture—both physical and ethical—and the importance of the hands as expressive mediums of feelings and communication were historical references for Margiela; they were reprised here as a leitmotif, “an exploration of how gestures can define clothing and the way clothes morph and adapt on the body,” said the designers. Uniforms for traditional jobs such as butchers’ aprons served as a template for pragmatic shapes which were given a conceptual Margelian slant.
The gesture of elongation was at the base of the vertical silhouette that was the collection’s pivot. Very long vests; lengthened tailored jackets; floor-pooling trousers; and plunging V-neck tunics made the case for soft-structured, column-shaped garments conveying a fluid, almost languid utilitarian feel. Slits, flaps and panels played with the possibility of transformation through a simple gesture of the hand. “We don’t believe in overpowering the wearer,” said the collective’s spokesperson. “We want to enhance identities, we’re not interested in creating something preposterous that has no honesty.”
Martin Margiela’s radical work was also a social commentary; its legacy, albeit modulated in a different tone, is kept alive. A white jersey apron top and a rectangular T-shirt were soaked into melted wax candles, and then dripped to achieve a textural surface. “We wanted to comment on the concern for the extreme heatwave we’ve all suffered these past months.” they explained. “We know it isn’t going to go away anytime soon, and raising awareness through creativity is of the essence.”
This article was originally published on Vogue Runway.
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