Martin Margiela, Spring 2000

[cerfas]

A little bit of necessary fashion history
the shoes with the heels removed
images from firstview.com

 

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[cerfas]

makes me think of Ann-Sofie Back

 

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[TheSoCalledPrep]

*confused*

 

[droogist]

Oh no...the first Margiela oversize collection. I agree that the shoes were fab. But it was with this collection that I first began to lose interest in MM (well, slightly). I think the concept really began to overtake the clothes here. Of course their previous output was always overwhelmingly conceptual, and in fact some of my favourites were probably the most conceptual of all (i.e. the doll collection & the flat collection). But I never got the feeling with the earlier stuff that the idea was the end in itself; to me, the point was that a woman could put any of those pieces on and they would make her feel strong and sexy and smart. But this oversize stuff...well, you'd put it on and instead of feeling any of those things, you felt like Margiela's little science experiment (or worse, like a bad joke...)

They continued with the oversize theme for a couple seasons after, and the result were actually a great improvement on the offerings here. But S/S 2000 was imo easily one of their weakest seasons.

 

[Lena]

i liked this collection, still i can see droogist's point

regardless of it's 'weirdness' and its lack of 'genious inspiration' the oversized theme affected mainstream styles with such a huge delay, still it finally left its sign, big time.
was clearly shocked when it made it as a mainstream trend/shape theme at popular Peclers trend forecast agency just a year ago >it was actually forecasted for ss05.

if one considers how much forecasting agencies affect mass production, this is a monumantal collection from MMM.. see? five years later we can well see the influence and its well evident in fw05.06 collections...
Everyone is by now working on volume, while MMM did it first.

 

[metal-on-metal]

makes me think of Ann-Sofie Back

I agree. But I don't think this collection is such a joyless, bland exercise in futility. I think perhaps Ann-Sofie is just beyond fashion. And there's no way to reconcile the problem of unflattering clothing. It just doesn't work. And it never will. People won't pay to look bad. I'd love to see her do art installations a la Vanessa Beecroft, Marina Abramovic, etc. It could be interesting.

But anyway, back to this Margiela. I think it's gorgeous and witty and beautiful. Sometimes people need to be really bonked over the head with something for the point to come across. I think we need to consider when this collection was shown. The late 90's. Everything was either paired-down sport minimalism or lavish, ridiculous logomania. Then Margiela shows this. I remember how fresh it felt at the time and it still feels as fresh now. And as Lena mentioned, this collection is finally now reaching the mainstream. Margiela's genius works years and years in advance.

 

[softgrey]

i don't know...
i don't really see the 'volume' trend as coming from this batch of ugliness...
if anything...i think it's coming from an obvious influence of the 80's...and the japanese designers of that time...especially rei kawakubo...if anyone's a genius...i think it's rei...and i think that is being readily acknowledged in the press...we are definitley having a 'japanese' moment...

the designers who have embraced the voluminous silhouette...lanvin and marc jacobs and rochas, etc..... don't look anything like this...they look like old comme...
they look like pretty bubbles and balloons...not big potato sacks...

 

[Spacemiu]

Personally i liek it quiet a bit, and I agree with Lena that it is influential, btu alos I see droogist's points, and I agree it is a little boring.

the sheos are great, and I really like the linger dresses.

 

[AlexN]

Don't like the clothes and really don't like the models.

 

[Arturo21]

^Agreed.

 

[Alura]

Difficult, although it sometimes annoys me that Margiela has such a (cult) status nobody dares to totally dislike it for the sake of being seen 'uncreative'. I love some of his stuff but the oversize thing was not my cup of tea (too much recession chic). The white smoking jacket works brilliant though.

 

[cerfas]

Lena, what you said is exactly what I had in mind when I started this thread.
Take Marc Jacobs's latest collection, for instance. The fashion press praised his daring use of oversized jackets, to give a childish innocent feel, as if it were the biggest risk anyone in fashion has ever taken, and as if it were something relatively unseen. I'm not ragging on him, just trying to point out that there is a steady undercurrent always ahead of its time, always having a strong impact although not always visible.

Softgrey, I see your point about the voluminous silhouette and that makes a lot of sense to me, something I hadn't seen before. However I thought Margiela was playing with something a bit different, like the idea of using a garment that has a prescribed way that it is supposed to fit (like a blazer--we know what it is and how it's supposed to look) and sizing it up about ten sizes. The shape, of course, is big and voluminous, but it's more about the playing with size and patternmaking. I read something about the mathematical way they sized the garments up, and it was so interesting. Yeah but that was so long ago I'm not sure what I'm saying right now. There were a lot of ugly looks in this collection, still I appreciated it for its moments of poetry.

 

[cerfas]

and metal-on-metal : yes. The timing is a lot of what is great about this.
Droogist, I agree that they worked the oversize better in later collections, but there I still like the moment when an idea is first realized as something worth doing. It's imperfect, but interesting still. You are right though, many women would wear these and just feel silly. Do you like Spring 01? I think that's a gorgeous one, but it's even later than this.

 

[Scott]

I don't see any of this as being ugly potato sacks. One can also say the same about Comme too....wasn't there an early collection of big bag like dresses which were practically destroyed?

As for volume,it may have started with the Japanese but it actually took the Belgians for people to truly recognize it as a technique. And Martin Margiela(along with Ann and Dries)was a forerunner in this movement since he began his line....which btw,was in the 80's too.

 

[Lena]

beauty is in the eye of the beholder...
but seriously, if you saw the Peclers trend forecasting just a year ago..
they were screaming 'follow oversize a-la-MMM' to those clueless mass market manufacturers, it was close to surrealistic.. and it certainly wasnt 'japanese' inspired, actually the japanese are not considered that 'hot' anymore, apart maybe from Junya (God is saw saw his most genious multi zip waist skirt last month while in Paris, at 800 euros it felt as a steal)

back on topic, i cant see the current 'volume' mood but as a result of MMM's older collections and regardless the photos here, the clothes up close were adorable, elegant and très très chic, not a sack of potatoes at all, sorry

 

[Alura]

back on topic, i cant see the current 'volume' mood but as a result of MMM's older collections and regardless the photos here, the clothes up close were adorable, elegant and très très chic, not a sack of potatoes at all, sorry

I agree on that Lena, no matter what people think about Margiela the craftmanship and fabrics are always superb.

 

[cerfas]

Often times you have to read something written about the intention to get that fourth dimension of understanding when you look at the clothes. Not that they can't be appreciated without it.