Le Cent Quatre; 5 rue Curial
Paris, 19th Arrondisement
September 29th, 2008; 6:30pm
The invitation arrived in a small, white cardboard box. Inside, a brushed-metal guest pass was engraved with information about the show and presented on a white cotton cord. Three large "As" were inscribed on the front of the plaque, followed by numbers ranging from 0 to 23- emblematic of Maison Martin Margiela. A simple "MERCI!" — spelled out in capital letters— was engraved on the back.
The show was held in a large building formerly used by the Paris Municipal Undertakers that has since been converted into a cultural space.
Inside, tall bleachers were set up on either side of a straight central aisle covered in black carpeting and protected with a plastic sheet. Just before the show began, several men dressed in black tore away the center plastic strip, leaving the edges intact. The photographer's stand was at one end of the runway. At the other end, the space opened to the outside and into a second empty building.
The combined length of the buildings created the feel of a cathedral with the runway as the axis.
The assistants distributed refreshments to the 1,500 guests. In honor of the house's twentieth anniversary, the red wine normally served in plastic cups was replaced by champagne. A press kit described each look in the manner of an haute couture program.
Around 8:00 p.m., the room went dark.
Only natural light came in from the open side of the building. Suddenly, a huge black curtain descended from the ceiling and covered the walls. blocking out all the light. "Twenty years, forty shows, hundreds of garments, and what is left?
What defines us? What is at the heart of our identity and how do we describe it? We have to reinvent ourselves based on our past." This paragraph, printed on the cover of the press kit distributed to the guests and the journalists at the start of the show, set the tone for the collection.
Inspired by 20 years of the designer's ideas and research, the show's 40 looks-one for each of Martin Margiela's collections - were presented in random order.
The collection celebrated Margiela's favorite colors: black, white, red, and nude (the skin color that underscored the designer's affection for trompe l'oeil) as well as denim blue and mirrored silver. To preserve their anonymity, all the women's faces were covered with the house's iconic gauze veils or wigs.
A large white spotlight was directed toward the black curtain at the far end of the room, as if a model were about to appear. But the first model emerged from the opposite end of the runway and walked into the beam of light that lit her from behind. The sounds of Antwerp rock band dEUS’ "Everybody's Weird" filled the room. The model wore the traditional white lab coat that had, since its inception, become the uniform for the house's assistants and models. The black lines mimicking stocking seams and painted along the back of the model's bare legs were another reference to the designer's very first fashion show. The model walked as if she were wearing high heels, yet her feet appeared bare. She was, in fact, wearing undersized mules in a shade of nude that was almost invisible against the skin. The shoes were too short and her heels hung over the back. The design was based on an orthotic shoe meant to improve posture and build up calf muscles. As the model walked, her projected shadow kept increasing in size until it finally covered the entire black curtain at the end of the runway.
Instead of following the first model, the second one emerged from behind the black curtain at the back of the room.
The model held up the corners of a large, poster-size swath of silk satin on which was printed the iconic-shaped jacket of Margiela's earliest collections.
The negative photograph, in shades of gray, was a process first used in the Spring-Summer 1996 collection. The bottom part of the poster was pulled across the model's hips and sewn together at the back. This new-style dress was worn over bare legs.
An updated version of the actual jacket was presented next, also shown with bare legs.
It was made of black cotton and covered with white paint, a process often used by Maison Martin Margiela to reuse vintage pieces or those from earlier shows. A white plaster mold of the front of this jacket followed, worn as a plastron, with the back left bare.
The Stockman form from Spring-Summer 1997 made its return for the fifth look. The raw linen was replaced by nude-colored Neoprene covered with strips of black adhesive tape, a technique used to wrap vintage accessories in the Fall-Winter 2005-06 collection.
The models' faces were hidden under opaque black veils. As in Spring-Summer 1997, the sleeveless jacket was closed at the front with several hooks and eyes. Its pointed shoulder line recalled the silhouette featured in the collections between Fall-Winter 2007-08 and Fall-Winter 2008-09.
The next model approached the runway from the opposite direction and crossed paths with another model. Both wore the same oversize T-shirt, one in white and the other in black. The T-shirts were entirely slashed, a reference to the raw-cut edges and the look of the carly collections that the press had categorized as "grunge." The T-shirts were worn over nude bodysuits with pointed shoulders that protruded through the torn fabric.
Next, a model wore a black full bodysuit with integrated gloves leaving the shoulders bare.
Wide strips of adhesive tape wrapped around her body were meant to suggest a short dress.
This technique recalled the sheer dress from the Fall-Winter 1992-93 collection, made with a transparent dress bag that was shaped to look like a dress form using strips of adhesive tape.
The model's face was obscured with a black veil and brown bangs across her forehead.
A bodysuit combined with a nude jumpsuit was made of rhinestone strips in a shade of denim blue-one of Margiela's favorite fabrics and served as an introduction to the following look.
The dEUs' soundtrack gave way to the electric-guitar rifts of The Kills "Superstition."
The next model stood on a rolling platform, a presentation first seen at the Spring-Summer 2006 show.
She was leaning against a metal railing. A reclaimed and reconstructed washed-denim jacket was transformed into a short cape with wide shoulders.
It was inspired by long denim coats from the Spring-Summer 1991 season and made from jackets and pants that had been cut apart and reassembled. The same technique was used for an artisanal denim jacket with open seams from the Fall-Winter 2003-04 show. This time, the model's face was not covered by a veil but by a wig of long blonde hair worn over the face.
Using blue carbon paper, the seams of a denim jacket and pants were traced and transferred onto the next two looks: a white boxy cape —reinterpreted from the Fall-Winter 2007-08 collection - and a white one-piece jumpsuit. Both models wore white cowboy boots with a blue design created in the same manner. These prints were similar to those seen on the shoes worn under colored Lycra® tights at the Spring-Summer show in 2003.
Another dolly was wheeled out. A bright white spotlight was directed onto a disk-shaped top entirely covered with the image of a giant diamond.
The disc shape was held in place by a hoop similar to background screens used by photographers.
The design evoked the circular-cut styles of Spring-Summer 2002. The circle created by the spotlight around the model was precisely reproduced on the dolly with white paint, for a trompe l'oeil effect.
The extra-long pants, a nod to the Spring-Summer 2007 collection, were white at the top and spray-painted black at the bottom so that they seemed to disappear into the background. The next two looks were stark-black disk-garments, one made of flocked fabric, the other of leather, and both worn over nude bodysuits. There was a moment of persistence of vision as the image of the diamond-print top lingered in the minds of the viewers.
The models— wearing viscose wigs with bangs— had their faces covered with nude veils.
The fifteenth model's black "Afro'' reprised the circular shape of the preceding looks. She wore a black full bodysuit "attached" to a trench coat with the sharp silhouette from the Spring-Summer 2008 show. Her pumps were attached to the pants.
Wearing a blonde "Afro" the following model was dressed in a white plastic bag with rigid plastic handles, fashioned into a bodysuit with pointed shoulders. This garment brought to mind two other collections: it was a variation of the long dress made from a plastic shopping bag first seen in the Fall-Winter 2008-09 "artisanal" collection; and it also referenced the plastic supermarket bag worn as a top with straps at the Spring-Summer 1990 show held in the empty lot. Both pieces illustrated Margiela's career-long interest in repurposing objects into clothing.
The same pointed-shoulder silhouette was reprised in the next look on an extra-long dress-bodysuit with two openings for the legs in a pixelated pattern of colors that ranged from white vinyl to nude fluid jersey.
A new white platform was rolled in.
The same blonde wig seen earlier now covered the model's entire head. She wore the T-shirt first launched at the Fall-Winter 1994-95 show in support of the Association Aides in the fight against AIDS. Re-created for each collection in a new color, the T-shirt retained the same message.
But for the first time, it was enlarged to size XXXXL and floated loosely over a pointed-shoulder bodysuit from the Fall-Winter 2007-08 show.
The text, which was projected against the walls, was also painted in black on the T-Shirt, the platform, and the wig. The look elicited loud applause.
A short moment of silence was interrupted by the throbbing beat of Cat Power's "American Flag." The next model came forward slowly and called out to the audience who began to clap.
Dressed in a nude full bodysuit and veil, the model wore a long brown wig on each shoulder.
A third, identical wig covered her face. The bolero effect created by these accessories was reminiscent of the garments made of inside-out wigs from the Fall-Winter 2005-06 collection and brought to mind the monkey-fur coats of the period between the Two World Wars.
Next, a model wore a flocked, black cotton-velvet bolero with shoulder pads, which echoed the previous design and served as a transition for the next look— one of the show's highlights.
The wig jackets were now made of synthetic bleached-blonde hair with dark roots. As his father was a hairdresser, hair had always played an integral role in Margicla's shows, Initially created for the Fall-Winter 2008-09 artisanal collection, this piece required 51 hours of handwork.
Once again, two models crossed paths. They wore bib fronts that mimicked giant stockinette stitches made with wool skeins, one in shades of beige, and the other in shades of red.
These pieces were inspired by dolls' clothes adapted to human scale with all the proportions intact, a concept first seen in the Fall-Winter 1994-95 collections. Blonde and red bangs partially obscured the veils that covered the models' faces.
To the beat of the tom-toms of DJ Gritzy's "Afromax 4," three models came forward, one behind the other. They wore nude bodysuits with pointed shoulder pads and carried shoulder bags made of the same material. It was a study of the evolution, or morphing, of a swath of red jersey. The first bag was in a nude color. The second was sheathed in bright-red viscose jersey with a long panel of fabric hanging at the side, as if a shawl were coming out of the bag. That fabric then took over, covering the model's entire torso and head, yet you could still make out the shape of a bag under the bright red fabric.
That swatch of jersey viscose fabric was the basis for the next two looks: both in black, they illustrated the fusion of several garments.
A one-legged, asymmetrical jumpsuit was engulfed by a full cape with a notched lapel, a reference to the identical collars featured in the Fall-Winter 1997-98 show. Then a long, asymmetrical dress was attached to a jumpsuit with one tight-fitting leg and the other tucked inside the volume of what would have been the skirt of the dress.
There was a break at the twenty-eighth look. The music gave way to a man's voice chanting "She Was A Visitor," a vocal piece created by performer Robert Ashley in 1967. A model came forward on a rolling platform. Bathed in a white light, her bust was presented in an immense white jewelry box. Her body was entirely covered in white, so that only her necklace stood out a choker made of five huge links of 18 karat yellow gold. Created by Damiani, the necklace evoked the Number 11 the jewelry line launched in 2005.
"Do Ya" by Peaches, interrupted the experimental background sounds. For the twenty: ninth look, two women came out side by side.
They looked alike - same size, same physique, same walk — and they were friends. Their faces were hidden behind cascades of red hair from wigs worn backward. They wore the same white, masculine shirts in a size XXXL over pointed-shoulder bodysuits. Even though the long sleeves were pushed up, the models' arms came through openings under the sleeves. The backs of the shirts were pulled tight across the hips with ties across the stomach— a feature reminiscent of the nineteenth-century visitors.
Margiela's earliest designs had also appropriated their structure from historical garments, highlighting the designer's interest in vintage fashions and their history.
Two other combined garments were
presented for the thirtieth and thirty-first looks: half of a pair of suit pants attached to a tuxedo jacket and underwear. They were oversized in dimension with openings for the arms that were placed under the actual armholes.
Next came a wide jacket entirely covered with small black squares, followed by "Diddle My Skittle," a second track by Peaches.
At that moment, a second silver-colored curtain was supposed to come down from the ceiling and cover the black one.
But the maneuver, which worked perfectly during rehearsal, malfunctioned during the show. A new white platform was rolled in at the far end of the runway to a recording of static noise. This time, the large spotlight illuminated only the model's legs, which were painted white. She wore oversized sandals. Already shown in some of the earlier looks, the sandals had stiletto heels in the style of fetish pumps. Because the soles extended far beyond the heel, the shoes seemed much too big. The strap wrapped behind the ankle and across the foot to keep the sandals in place. A spotlight caught the reflection of the little pieces of mirror covering the shoes.
This material was also featured on long johns and an XXL jacket that would appear later in the show. These three looks underscored Margiela's affection for mirrored disco balls, featured for the first time at his second show, held at Le Globo nightclub.
A new platform appeared suddenly from the back of the room to the sound of the show's last music track, Peaches' "Fuck the Pain Away." A silhouette's projected shadow was painted in black on the platform's white background. The model's black lacquered lips were visible under her nude veil.
She was wearing a short dress of shredded black chiffon that brought to mind the reclaimed ball gowns cut into waistcoats for the Spring-Summer 1991 show. The model could only slip on this intentionally undersized dress by leaving the back zipper open.
Another short dress was featured in the next look, but this time was enlarged to the extreme, in the manner of the oversize collections presented from 2000 to 2002. Its giant décolleté floated around the bust. Next, two models wearing dresses whose sizes were doubled in length and width
—one in black, the other white — crossed paths at the center of the runway. Two openings below the waistline on the front of the skirt revealed the models' legs and bodysuits. They wore oversized high-heeled sandals. The extra-full skirt formed a long train. The silhouette of the white dress was the same as the black one, but only the white dress was made from an assemblage of vintage wedding gowns, a reference to the Fall-Winter 2005-06 collection. Shiny lacquered red plastic lips were affixed to the veils covering the models faces.
The fortieth— and last-look of the collection approached the runway from the opposite direction.
Surprised, the audience began to applaud. A black-and-white photograph of a huge birthday cake was printed in trompe l'oeil style (a nod to the Spring-Summer 1996 show) on a gigantic three-tier form made of canvas. The cake was carried in by the same models who had walked the runway together for the twenty-ninth look. Under the cake you could see the model bare legs and oversize high-heeled sandals. The moringcale stopped at the end of the podium just as the immense curtain was rising.
All the models from the show came out wearing white coats or white square dress bags, preceded by the model in the oversize black ball gown from the penultimate look. Their faces were uncovered, revealing wide smiles. Large mirrored confetti poured from the ceiling as the house's staff appeared onstage- seventy people in white coats walking out to the sounds of a marching band playing
James Brown's "I Feel Good."
The show took place at the beginning of fashion week, but the press already considered it to be the season's most significant. Many journalists acknowledged Margielas "indelible legacy" and "the designer's always modern and contemporary vision of clothing." Despite a few mentions of déjà-vu and oppression - because of the models' veils —this collection, inspired by the designer's past inspirations and themes, was lauded for the clever way original ideas were modified and made new." For 20 years, Martin Margiela never stopped questioning fashion, clothing, and its function. He addressed the concept of scale (enlarging dolls' clothes and oversize styles) and the deconstruction of classic garments to create new shapes. He was one of the only designers to invent a new silhouette; he revealed the inside of clothes and the different steps of their fabrication; he used imperfections as motifs (garments that were, for instance, unfinished, frayed, and torn); and he examined the role of vintage clothing, its legacy, as well as that of repurposed objects. These last two were specifically addressed in his "artisanal" line.
He worked with trompe l'oeil, favored the color white, the anonymous label; and, amongst other things, he reconsidered the roles played by models and the designer. Revived in this last collection, the many themes of Margielas oeuvre have made him one of the most cutting-edge and talented designers of his generation.
On the day of the show, Suzy Menkes reported rumors about Martin Margiela's impending departure in the International Herald Tribune. During the show, the topic was on everyone's lips. More than half of the newspaper articles mentioned it and described the collection as "more of a good-bye than a celebration." Maison Martin Margiela refuted the rumor.
Yet, a few hours after the show. Martin Margiela secretly left the fashion house he had founded with Jenny Meirens 20 years earlier.
Martin Margiela: The Women's Collections 1989-2009
Transcribed by: Soukita Morgan
