The decontextualization of classic men’s fashion | Fashion Show Review, Men’s Fashion – Fall 2016

Paris, France – First, the news: an anonymous committee – not Jean Galliano – more drawings Margiela Housecollection of men’s clothing. Does it sound strange? Maybe that’s because the man Margiela – nervous, raw, and decidedly young, and not just because of the cast – follows the recipe of the eponymous founder much more orthodox than the woman Margiela. But let’s not dwell on these details; Margiela has always operated following an alternative path, sometimes even impenetrable.

Held in an abandoned warehouse, today’s show was one of Margiela’s best lately – it had a certain consistency and palpable energy, which made it look like a possible proposition – outfits that could have meaning beyond the catwalk – not just exercises in design and style. The rather esoteric performance notes framed the whole under the catchy phrase “find humanity and recognize the machine”, proposing a pastiche of pragmatism as a methodology. Which, in fact, was just a beautifully presented way of describing Margiela’s distinctively propensity for appropriating and decontextualizing elements from the classic menswear repertoire – forms like the blazer, the suit on measure, mantle – tweaked and transformed according to concepts of principles. The result is both familiar and off-putting, which is Margiela’s true hallmark.

The starting point was the classic duffel coat, which was sliced ​​this way and, stretched out into a waistcoat, made it seriously solemn and ultimately cool. Around this cohesive backbone, a bloom of twisted adaptation worn in various states of clubbing distress and undress. There were powerful puffs of perversion roaming around: With their half-laced boots, bare legs, and costumes worn with bare breasts, Margiela’s moody dressers seemed poised to disappear into some sort of sex club. Or maybe pedal: Cycling shorts have made a cameo appearance, which, after Issey Miyake yesterday, could herald the unexpected return of one of the most horrific styles of recent times. That too is perversion.