Vive la fashion revolution! Upcycling the heritage of the craft to make something for the present that is beautifully, radically creative: John Galliano tackled the challenge of our times head-on with his fantastical Maison Margiela Artisanal collection this morning.
Most of the collection was made from materials that already exist: “memories” of bourgeois classics, recut, turned inside out, dissected, collaged, and punched through in a riot of color. “An upcycling of values is proposed,” as the clarion call of his press release stated.
Galliano spoke in a house podcast about how he and his studio team had sat and decided “there are too many clothes in the world.” He reflected on the rise of the bourgeoisie and capitalism after the 19th-century Industrial Revolution. Next thing his assistants were out scouring thrift shops for materials to work into the collection. In many ways, it was a physical and philosophical manifestation of the phrase that has become a commonplace: “There is no away.” Just as clothes can’t be thrown out nor can the history of Western fashion, so it’s down to revolutionaries to make over what remains. And thence to swagger proudly forth in the beautiful results.
Look, he says: This is haute, and this is special, and if you want, you can just do it yourself.
Maison Margiela 