For Spring Summer 2002, Maison Martin Margiela enlisted the help of London-based creative agency Intro to create a fashion film to present their womens collection in Paris. At the time, foregoing a runway presentation was not de rigeur as it seems to be today, but rather a true breakthrough – to invite guests to a café rather than a show venue, to present the clothes not on models but on a blank digital figure.

Director Julian Gibbs used 2-D elements to give the video primitive and documentary qualities, with test patterns and simplistic graphic elements creating a minimalist, even Bauhaus atmosphere in parts. Although not filmed in black and white, the video seemed to be almost entirely colourless, with the garments’ textures and silhouettes holding enough potency against the flat backgrounds and even flatter models.

The collection itself was based on the idea of the circle, a “closed plane curve” with “every point equidistant from any given point/centre”. Margiela translated the circle through collar shapes, curved hems and zips, and more pointedly through a leather jacket and white shirt stretched out and held as perfect circles with clips and string. The ubiquitous Margiela tabi boots with the split toe and cylindrical heel peep out in cracked white leather from underneath a long straight skirt.

To watch the film, click here.

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For A#1, three years after the video was made, MMM returned to Intro to reflect on their project, and were given the following two collages for the magazine by designer Julian House. Julian is known for this style of design, gaining recognition for his album cover art for artists such as Oasis and the Prodigy, and working on his own musical projects for Ghost Box Music. The works are subversive pieces that are a direct backlash against popular media and censorship, using different means of blanking out existing words and graphics on pulp media.

The first is a comic book spread that Julian has painted over, with each box covered in blue or white paint and left with a carefully selected few speech bubbles, but not a single character or situation is visible – rendering the words entirely incoherent.

The second page depicts pages from the periodical “Planet Earth”, that have been stapled over with small pieces of solid and striped blue cottons. Again the action has altered the meaning of the original document, as it becomes nothing more than a canvas for his panelled pieces, which have been specifically cut to each column, giving the viewer some idea of the layout of what lies beneath.

Echoing the codes of anonymity and collective consciousness that informs the house of Margiela, House’s contribution is as relevant today as it was in its inception. Witty, subtle and striking to the eye, it continues to leave us guessing.