Martin Margiela just celebrated 20 years as a fashion label. He might have left the ship but when he was active, Margiela - on his inspiration trips around the globe - gathered new and second hand items that he thought had sartorial value. By putting some of these pieces of clothing together, new garments were created. Called the Artisanal line, this Couture branch of MMM has been going strong since 1989. For AW '10, Maison Martin Margiela focused on playing around with fabrics, often using different sorts of animal skins; "real or faux, leather or fur, with scales or nappa, suede or shiny, patent or mat, textured or embossed, starch or soft, stretch or rigid".

Colourwise the collection, which included 10 outfits when MMM showed their Haute Couture collection in Paris, was centred around brown and black. A few of the more eye catching pieces included a jacket made out of handbags and clutches. Taking the team 61 hours to assemble, it contained crocodile, python, lizard and snake skin. "Each bag is removed of its lining and inside pockets. They are all bonded with nappa leather before being sewn onto a fitted jacket in nappa leather which colour is alike the new lining of each bag". But the piece de resistance was perhaps the final cowboy - sorry, cowgirl! - outfit, which was described as a "romple l’œil cowboy-boots jumpsuit". The garment took 116 hours to produce but, with its beautiful folk motives and hand-stitched leather patches, it was well worth the wait...