Maison minus Margiela
As the winds of change constantly unsettle the ephemeral world of fashion, people come and go and the system remains dynamic. It is this ebb and flow that catches our attention, tweaks tradition and often crowns new and exciting talent. The past year however has seen a gradual leak of rumour and gossip from the eponymous house of Margiela, and it is with mixed thoughts that we announce Martin’s departure from Maison Martin Margiela.
It seems that the spring summer 2010 runway collection shown on Friday in Paris was a taste of the self-derivative pastiche of inhouse references that the house threatens to become, without the direction of it’s namesake and lifeblood. Exaggeration of silhouettes – details that once seemed avant-garde and edgy – are rendered disconcertingly obvious and somewhat tacky, with an overwrought alignment of current trends with a flimsy foothold on Martin Margiela’s recycled ideas.
It is at these times that it is all the more potent to reflect on the past and the efforts of A BLOG to celebrate our heritage with designers such as Maison Martin Margiela, with A#1 a resilient time capsule of his wonderful, whimsical, white-washed world.
I knew it! When the first model walked out resembling a crumpled up piece of paper – an idea thrown in the trash, I suspected that this maybe a cleaning of “House” of sorts. And I love it. And what better to drive the point home than a “clean slate of white dresses” as the finale symbolizing a new start – not a better one, not a completely different one, but simply a new one, as the winds of fashion must change from time to time. As I watched the collection progress, all I could think was these must be all of the ideas that were pitched at one time, and simply need their day in the sun to be officially rid of them. Most importantly, as much as critics say, WTF? this show was all Maison including a statement to think about, a story to listen to, a puzzle to figure out – and regardless of who is at the helm now, isn’t that the legacy? In my opinion, the legacy lives on. Long live the spirit of Margiela!