The luxury fashion brand Maison Martin Margiela has once again managed to present a head-turning line with its Artisanal Fall 2012 Line. This line includes 15 looks and stays true to the Maison's signature staples: vintage clothes, accessories, and other surprising objects.
Described as the J.D. Salinger of the fashion world for his reclusivity, Martin Margiela hasn't allowed photographs or interviews since founding the brand back in 1988. He is known as a conceptual designer who utilized untraditional fabrics in his collections— such as car seats and seat belts or melting ice cubes as jewelry. Though Raf Simons, a friend of the mystery man, took over as the brand's creative director several years ago, the new fall collection is proof that the brand stays loyal to Margiela's original style.
Margiela himself prefers extreme privacy, and was known to always stay backstage during and after his shows. Just as the original designer requires privacy, at the latest runway show, the brand's models wore masks that obscured their faces, giving a sense of total anonymity to keep a strong focus on the clothes.
Though not as wacky as some past collections, the Margiela Fall collection did have some signature use of vintage clothing and unexpected materials. The 15-look "Artisanal" collection incorporated both antique objects and clothing that was cleverly repurposed and refashioned for a modern look. The show opened with a revised 1905 tailcoat, using a crystal doorknob found in New York City as its closure. Other pieces in the show included an Art Noveau antique beaded gown transformed into a bomber jacket, while a bolero and vest were made from vintage baseball gloves. The surprise of the collection was a windsurfing sail artfully reimagined as a coat.
Although the focus was primarily on the upper half of the body, the lower half of the body was not forgotten as it was covered in straight leg pants made from lace sourced from all over France. To see the full collection visit MaisonMartinMargiela.com.