So, couture week happened and as always, I am rather late to the party. Surprisingly, it was not Dior that grabbed my heart this season but Maison Martin Margiela. The collection was small, 19 looks to Dior’s 46, and like its newly-invigorated Parisian counterpart, was a breathtaking display of beautifully made, yet thoroughly modern clothes.
As with Margiela’s first couture or ‘artisanal’ collection last year, the House re-appropriated elements from vintage clothing; the focus this time on the 1920s. Original beadwork from the era was transposed onto trench coats, long-line biker jackets and gowns teamed with worn denim and brushwork-patterned silk.
My favourite look, the richly embellished flapper dress/zipped-pullover (last three images) was a perfect synthesis of the 1920s ‘modern look’; all dropped waists, shorter hems and cleaner lines, with sportswear as we understand it today. ‘From the sublime to the sublime’, is how Nicole Phelps described this combination. I couldn’t agree more.
[Images via style.com]
The beadwork was INSANE. And it was a nice reminder of Couture done right (especially since I only saw the collection after seeing the high-street-RTW-masquerading-as-Couture that was Rad Hourani).