Maison Margiela SS2018 ‘Défilé’ Collection

Maison Margiela SS2018 ‘Défilé’ Collection expands and further explores the inspiration introduced in its Artisanal collection last July of proposing the idea of a new glamour. Unconscious glamour materialises through dressing in haste. It is the ritual action of wrapping a towel around one’s head at the spa, clutching a pillow at the airport, or slipping on a simple t-shirt.

Glamorous pastimes inspire their own unwritten codes and become the canvas for a new language of dressing. Creative director John Galliano looks to the wardrobes of leisure pursuits and appropriates the inappropriate. A traditional red riding jacket transforms into a bustier. A hooded bathrobe in jacquard towelling becomes an evening dress.

The t-shirt rises to a new importance as decortiqué is applied, reducing it to its core and trimming it with plumes – a soft harness that can be worn over a tailored coat or an evening gown. Original notions of glamour are repurposed: the bra, the plissé soleil, and gold. A red man’s coat is cut into a dress with a sweetheart neckline and a plissé back. The chaotic glamour of travelling is expressed through in-transit dressing.

The Glam Slam makes its debut on the runway. The new Maison Margiela cult bag is a lightweight cloud-like leather bag in button upholstery, evoking universal associations of comfort. ‘We set out to propose and further explore the idea of a new glamour that seduces us in our everyday lives.’ – Maison Margiela

Appropriating the inappropriate, materials from the pastime wardrobes are introduced into day and eveningwear. Wools associated with outdoor pursuits such as riding appear in dresses and bustiers alongside tattersall check in tailoring, and leather and suede in caban and saharienne jackets. Swimwear jacquard likewise features in tailoring, while monoï shirting cotton is used in bonding. Rose-patterned jacquard towelling is re-appropriated in a bustier and a dress. Materials traditionally associated with glamourous underpinnings serve as juxtaposing components: crin, the honest fabric of haute couture, appears in trench coats. Gold cloqué features in swimsuits, and gold lamé in plissé. Organza is used in dresses and overlays. Plumes and crystals serve as surface decoration.

Maison Margiela’s term for reducing a garment to its core, decortiqué materialises in outerwear, t-shirts, bras and cowboy boots. Coats are cut into dresses and bustiers; trousers are cut as shorts. Overlay veils garments in crin and organza, while a knitwear dress is adorned in looped strands of thread. Bandeaus are embroidered with underwire and pearls, bras and decortiqué t-shirts trimmed in plumes. Skirts are pleated, while dresses in plissé soleil cement the image of glamour. It is further acknowledged in the fronts of pleats on trompe l’oeil dresses cut open to resemble feathers, and in satin sliced to mimic ruffles. Baggage barcode stickers appear on pleats and collars.

Motifs from spa dressing are represented in rose patterns and monoï prints. Colours from the wardrobes of outdoor pastimes include red, black, grey and beige, while gold nods at a traditional idea of glamour. Nude appears throughout.

Maison Margiela introduces its new bag, the Glam Slam. With its rounded curves and soft cloud-like shape, the bag reflects the notion of unconscious glamour. Building on Maison Margiela’s chrome pieces, multi-colour feather marquetry is introduced in large shield-shaped earrings, cuffs, wing cuffs and pendants, which double as garment clips – their flat surfaces hinting a ladies’ powder compacts. Five-ring sets and single handcuffs are embellished with detachable plumes, a feature repeated in metal tube plume earrings. Cowboy belts carry shield-shaped buckles and double-buckles, while cowboy boots are treated with the decortiqué technique.