N O V E L T Y / Finding the relevance of couture at Maison Martin Margiela

Haute Couture always felt like something very distant to me. Something that I'd only occasionally see presented on a dead plastic mannequin in a fashion exposition at a museum. Something that's only made for a small elite club from another era. Something that's so exclusive that it seems like it's taking place in a parallel universe to which we will never have access to. Though the reason why I love fashion so much is because it is so close to the body that it almost becomes a part of it, an extension of yourself, something that everyone must participates in and from which there is no escape. Haute Couture felt so untouchable and far away that I always regarded it more as art than as fashion. Basically I felt excluded and left out from it, not having a spare 10 grand to spend on a dress, not being a celebrity in need of a red carpet outfit and not having access to the intimate shows to see the garments in movement.

Attending the Maison Martin Margiela show forced me to think more about wether Haute Couture is still relevant in 2013. Yes we already know that it is about the detailing, the craftsmanship, the exclusivity, blablabla. But you never get to experience that by just seeing the collections through images, it just never comes through unless you see it in real life, in movement. I tell you, it is impressive.

I found how important Haute Couture can be for a house right now for many other reasons than selling clothes or having celebs wear garments (let's hope that Kanye never wears a Margiela mask again, to ironically, use it for its opposite purpose: getting attention instead of being anonymous). In The case of Maison Martin Margiela, who only have had couture collections for 3 seasons, it is a way to gain more freedom. Complete conceptual freedom, the design team gets to do whatever they want without thinking about sales or wearability. It's like going back to the core of the house. I have been told that some ideas that are too unwearable and get left out of the ready to wear lines are saved for the Couture shows. It is about showing what the maison is all about, what it is capable of, what techniques it can apply.

And as expected, Maison Martin Margiela broke all the rules of Haute Couture and send some worn down jeans down the runway. These were my favorite looks, paired with oversized collars and masks made out of large marble beads on bare skin. So simple yet so extravagant. Then there was the deconstructed and reconstructed vintage and antique garments; a 1950s prom dress, an Art Nouveau curtain and even some beadings from the Napoleon-era. Recuperating these vintage and antique pieces was such a respectful way to treat clothes, almost like an homage, making old clothes relevant again for the future. It could even be a statement from MMM connected to the relevance haute couture itself.

A C C E S S O R I E S / Material Merging at Margiela

Experimenting can lead to wonderful new ideas. One of the things that I was impressed and inspired by from the Maison Martin Margiela show last week was how high tech techniques were applied in a Haute Couture collection: these pieces of jewelry made out of crystal and white matte resin.

I imagine the Swarovski design atelier looking somewhat like a lab. Their team is partly made up out of technicians, engineers and mathematicians who experiment with crystal (apparently, Swarovski does much more than only produce sparkles for asian nail salons). They somehow managed to fuse crystal with a white matte resin, merging them with pressure and without any glue involved. Then took the samples of their newly found technology to Paris and asked for a vision from Maison Martin Margiela. Who came up with the idea of shapes and cuts resembling natural stalactites. In the beginning it was a complete experimental adventure, it was still even unsure if it was going to work out and if there was ever going to be an end product. But now two years later, the line is finally a reality. My favorite pieces were the multi purpose tie- and document-clips; which can be clipped pretty much everywhere and also be used as an office accessory.

I N T E R I O R / Inside Maison Martin Margiela

From the outside one would never know that there is a little Margiela universe behind the thick walls of the former convent. There is no sign, no logo, nothing indicating that these are the headquarters of the Maison. Ultra discrete. Only in my wildest dreams would I ever enter this place, it was absolutely insane being invited (and getting a tour) by Maison Martin Margiela, which traditionally only communicated with press through a fax machine.

Before I knew it, I was standing in their entrance hall underneath the iconic veiled chandelier. The entire place was of course decorated with all their legendary stuff and furniture; the painted couch, trompe-l'oeil everywhere, the bottle lamps, piles and piles of their deconstructed lookbooks, empty snow globes and I even spotted a fax machine. Almost everything in white and stripped from its identity, even the computers were partly covered hiding the apples logos. As a tradition from Martin, all staff from all departments were still wearing the white overall uniforms, creating a sense of equality and collectiveness. As a visitor there was just no way to figure out who is from the design team, who is in sales, who cleans the toilets.

Most doors were covered with a picture of a different door creating a trompe-l'oeil effect, these were pictures of the doors at the first Maison Martin Margiela headquarters. When they moved in 2004 this was a way to take a piece of their former home with them. Though they didn't change or cover up much about the identity of this building, none of the walls are painted but left in their natural old, sometimes dilapidating state. Which makes a beautiful contrast with all the white, the crafted clothes and accessories. It was just one big space where creativity flows everywhere.

R E P O R T / ArtEZ Beauty Shots

Never have I seen a person look this good in red lipstick as this beautiful androgynous creature that came down the runway at the ArtEZ show. Though after the show was finished, he took off the pvc suit he was showcasing but left on the matte red lipstick. Then when going for a backstage peek, one of Barbara Langendijk's models (more on her soon!) caught my eye with her thick black shiny hair in two ponytails, one clipped down with a minimalistic silver barrette.