John Galliano's latest collection for Maison Margiela was a kaleidoscopic success. By now it is understood that Galliano's directing and the house of Margiela's techniques together make a beautiful pair. There is an element of DIY and reworking of exquisite techniques that makes the fashion modern. The clothes shimmered and flowed around the highly stylized models in a way that is absolutely breathtaking and unexpectedly humorous. The looks are steely, chic, powerful, and playful, sometimes in all the same garment. Also, there is an element of androgyny that Galliano has played with before that I feels right for the time. Today there seems to be a question of importance of or the relevance of gender in fashion and in clothes. This is something near and dear to my heart currently because I personally believe that clothes should not be gendered, and that people shouldn't be required by society to wear something assigned to them by their sex. In this collection, I feel that Galliano has the same concept in mind. He explores and travels from masculinity and femininity in an almost, dare I say, Bowie-esque way. Acid green pantsuits, geometric and bright eye makeup, and strange proportions are perhaps examples to prove my point. On another aspect of this collection, I would agree with several journalists who have pointed out a oriental play on detailing and styling. I understand the references, but frankly I believe that there is thousands of other pieces of inspiration that goes into designing a collection like this. Yes, there is geisha-like styles of hair, makeup, and embroidery, but there is also countless of other things in the pot besides the East Asian inspiration. For example, I see a lot of 1960's futurism in this collection. The silvery gowns and white spaceship-like shoes are prime pieces that highlight this idea. Case in point, this collection is fabulously complex without being too heavy. It's a breath of fresh air while embracing maximalism rather than minimalism. I really think we need to embrace creativity and we need to have fun in fashion, rather than allowing fashion to become something that is too simplistic without much thought or commentary on the world we live in. I hope that more designers, new and experienced, will look at this collection as inspiration for future ideas because I truly do love the complexity that goes into Maison Margiela currently.
