Crumpled paper dresses. An evening gown made from Village People leather chaps. Jackets that look like the floatation devices beneath the plane seats that you hope you'll never have occasion to use when flying. Such were the challenging designs on offer Friday at Maison Martin Margiela, a Belgian label known for pushing fashion's envelope and ushering in new trends seasons before everyone else gets on the bandwagon.
The show started with short, shapeless dresses in what looked to be crumpled white paper, then moved into a sort of one-piece swimsuit in kitschy tropical prints that could have been peeled off the advertisements for cheap holiday getaways. Then came the thigh-high boots so clunky they made the models look as if they had two broken legs and the dresses that appeared to be inspired by lifejackets, with towering shoulders that reached ear-high.
Margiela is never a designer interested in commercialism, his designs constantly push the boundaries, challenging fashion and our closets alike. In this economy, challenging may be off-putting to some, like Rihanna who, in the front-row, supposedly balked at some of the earlier pieces. Still, a challenge in fashion is always welcome, and what's even more important is Margiela's unwavering craftmanship and attention to detailing, which this collection offered in spades.
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