Maison Martin Margiela AW13

There are ridiculous naysayers that will insist Maison Martin Margiela can never be the same without the man himself at the helm. The truth is at a label as mysterious as Margiela is, it’s always been difficult to see which lab-coated individual was responsible for what and that was always the intention. MMM sans Margiela has been through a "Reboot.  Recharge.  Rethink." phase, which felt like it had hit a eureka moment at its latest show. Rehashing old Margiela-isms wasn’t going to cut the mustard. Instead, the Maison forged ahead with its own take on masculine tailoring in faded pinstripes, rounded at the shoulders, elongated in the sleeve, and often with the cuffs acting as sculptural detailing. Hair tucked into straps in-built into practically every single silhouette was one practical take-away point. The visual decoration was powerful. Streaked with paint, injected with circular patent panels, trussed up in PVC, scribbled with luminous knit yarn embroidery and finally "defiled" by shouty typographic slogan gowns – this wasn’t MMM respectfully doing Margiela by textbook. This was MMM working away, conjuring up pieces that delight and perplex in equal measure, just as it always did.

www.maisonmartinmargiela.com

Makeup: Hannah Murray

Models pictured: Nastya Kusakina-@Kusakina_Nastya, Juliana Schurig-@juliana_schurig, Yumi Lambert-@YlaUr_Mal, Katia Selinger-@katiaselinger, Aline Weber-@alineweber_real