Maison Margiela A/W 2017
Mood board: Last season, Maison Margiela presented its menswear collection just as the results of the EU referendum were announced. This time around, the brand’s presentation fell on the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration. So who knows what we can expect come June this year? In times of political uncertainty, as always, the response from the creative community has been to make more art. Following a major exhibition last summer at the Pompidou Centre, the designers at Margiela looked to the Beat Generation – that oft-referenced period in the 1950s which saw hordes of city-dwelling teens reject the conventional in favour of self-expression and bebop. This was a brave new world of poetry, philosophy and pizzazz.
Scene setting: The Beat Generation 2.0 sat in peaceful protest. A milieu of artists and philosophers had been cast, wearing clothes that were unapologetically French; a Rive Gauche loucheness. The house’s well explored military references were here made a little softer and free of anger and violence. The clothes all had a worn-in, confident wit to them. One boy sat quietly bent into his copy of Henri Bergson’s The World of Dreams, studying a chapter on space and homology. Our future will perhaps seem a little less bleak wearing a grey Prince of Wales check overcoat and split cuff trousers.
Finishing touches: With its cerebral dedication to the process of making, the label chose to leave many of the clothes incomplete, as if their creators had been interrupted. The shoulders of a tailored jacket were left with their topstitching and with unfinished prints. Split shirting, cord-tied outerwear and hand knit sweaters or natural shearlings were sprayed with positive, upbeat colour.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
London based writer Dal Chodha is editor-in-chief of Archivist Addendum — a publishing project that explores the gap between fashion editorial and academe. He writes for various international titles and journals on fashion, art and culture and is a contributing editor at Wallpaper*. Chodha has been working in academic institutions for more than a decade and is Stage 1 Leader of the BA Fashion Communication and Promotion course at Central Saint Martins. In 2020 he published his first book SHOW NOTES, an original hybrid of journalism, poetry and provocation.
-
Alternative Easter eggs: chocolate-free but cracking gifts and indulgences
The humble egg, Easter's favourite ingredient, celebrated in five alternative forms, from a picnic cutlery canteen to a fabulous foamy dessert
By Caragh McKay Published
-
The Devil is a flawed everyman in Nick Cave’s ceramics
A show of Nick Cave’s ceramics, ‘The Devil – A Life’ at Xavier Hufkens in Brussels, explores the complex character
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Sweet Easter treats to tweet about
Five Easter treats, from chocolate chicks and rabbits to almond cake, that are delectable enough to gift all year round
By Caragh McKay Published
-
Louis Vuitton A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's
By Laura Hawkins Last updated
-
Chanel A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women’s
By Laura Hawkins Last updated
-
Y/Project A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's
By Laura Hawkins Last updated
-
Sacai A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's
By Laura Hawkins Last updated
-
Alexander McQueen A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women’s
By Laura Hawkins Last updated
-
Akris A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women’s
By Laura Hawkins Last updated
-
Givenchy A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women’s
By Laura Hawkins Last updated
-
Valentino A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's
By Laura Hawkins Last updated