Maison Margiela: S&M Celtic fire marshals

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Feb 28, 2018

Got to hand it to John Galliano, his wild imagination has never been tamed. His latest ready-to-wear show for Maison Margiela picked up on the key idea of January’s Artisanal couture collection for the house – using holographic effects to, well, great effect. But where the couture looks needed a special light to appreciate, these metallic looks had great three-dimensional depth in broad daylight.

Galliano cut these into some monstrous shapes: huge firefighter coats or giant parkas, finishing these polyurethane fantasies with Western fringes and strips of tulle. He even covered one caban/trench in a cut-out S&M body harness. The UK designer will always be a little wicked.  
 
John’s move to the 11th arrondissement, where the Margiela headquarters is located, continues to inform his attraction to street style. Hence, every model wore hefty white or holographic silver sneakers – reminiscent of Reebok pumps – but finished with techie mountain climbing gear. The star look named, aptly, the Security Margiela Sneaker.

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There was a Celtic mood too: from the Harris tweed coats that morphed into Aran cable-knit sleeves; to Aran sweaters cut on the bias or worn as enormous scarves.

As ever, since he arrived at Margiela, Galliano did not take a bow. Respecting a tradition of Martin Margiela, the secretive founder of the house. Which is a pity, as we miss John’s famous sallies down the catwalk, dressed – one moment as a deranged Napoleonic marshal, the next a prizefighter from a Ring Lardner Jr. short story.
 
One can only imagine what his garb would have been after this show. How about Steve McQueen from The Towering Inferno meets Clint Eastwood from The Eiger Sanction?