Tuesday, June 2, 2009

whose house is it?

Maison Martin Margiela is one of my absolute favorite designers. Yet the Fall 2009 season's collection was somewhat "off". Sarah Mower of Style.com hit the nail on the head when she wrote the following review:

"The Margiela-isms seemed to be there, sort of: the tan bodysuits mimicking nakedness, the Perspex shoulder pads, the so-called "deconstructionist" cutouts, the leggings pulled over shoes, the grown-on collars worn as hoods, the tinselly boas. Yet all of it seemed to be done by rote, as if it had been pulled out of the label's back catalog, without any sense of a vivid intelligence pushing an idea toward new conclusions."
It can be agreed that something seemed to be missing from the fall collection, perhaps the man himself.

Margiela is owned by Diesel. And there has been speculation that Margiela left after some disagreements with Diesel over marketing strategies and a shift toward mass production. Yet, no one has been able to get a straight answer from anyone. Margiela and his presence within the company is a mystery.

A recent article posted on JC Report added fuel to this "mystery man" fire. According to the article, contact was made with one of Margiela's designers who stated, "He [Margiela] has not been present since last season." In addition, it has been said that Diesel has begun interviewing designers such as Raf Simons and Haider Ackermann.

It's not uncommon by any means for labels to rotate through designers; however, this possible placement weirds me out. What makes Maison Martin Margiela is Margiela. It's his creativity, his weird and wacky mind that makes his label fantastic. In a world where true creative genius is few and far between, I am disappointed at the thought that Diesel would find mass production more important than Margiela's masterful mind.



3 comments:

diane said...

It's a sign of the times. The big fashion houses are all just trying to stay afloat.

thefatandskinnyonfashion said...

i agree with diane fashion is in a weird place right now.

Aline said...

that is so sad