M-M-MMMargiela

A fellow fashion follower expressed about the this year’s Maison Martin Margiela fall collection with two words and one grimaced face: “It’s ugly,” she said. And while you could argue it is… “ugly,” its disputable that this same ugliness is just the right ugly we need in fashion. The designs are conceptual, dramatic, unforgettable and undeniably fresh — is that not what makes most collections successful?

Designer Martin Margiela preps us with a vision we’d probably start getting used to now, so 15 years down the line we’re comfortable with idea of wigs on our shoulders, body conscious nude bodysuits and plastic-bag bathing suits, because it’ll probably take that long for the mainstream to get pick up the fashion concepts. Today’s ragged and unfinished works can find trail sources of inspiration to 80s Margiela collections; who knows, we might owe the inspiration behind body conscious, architecturally protective wear of the future to today’s Margiela collections.

This Monday marked the 20th anniversary of the Margiela house, started up by the then 31-year old, former Jean Paul Gaultier assistant, Belgian designer of the Antwerp 6 Martin Margiela — that doesn’t mean there’s any planned celebration, though. In fact, there’s been a lot of recent chatter about Margiela actually planning his leave of the house. The New York Times article, "Fashion's Invisible Man," delves into the elusive Mr. Margiela’s actual role at MMM and troubles with creative control.

Shop MMM men and womenswear at Browns, Net-A-Porter and The Corner.