Maison Margiela collaborated with Reebok to recreate its iconic Tabi, updating it in sneaker form as part of its Spring/Summer 2020 collection. Reebok, an increasing presence at Paris Fashion Week, ignites the dialogue between a classic American sneaker and French haute couture.
The Tabi was first launched in 1988 and appeared on the runway as a pump, boot, ballet flat, and a mule. Today, the shoe is upgraded in a chunky sneaker style that mixes its shape with Reebok’s Instapump Fury model from 1994. The collaboration with Reebok actually marks Margiela’s first since creative director John Galliano joined the brand in 2014.
The artisanal values of the brand follow through as per usual and in the collaboration with Reebok, the quality is supreme. The shoe is made exclusively with the sole design native to the RetroFit. The sneaker features the logos of both brands and comes in six colorways, and is available in a flat and heeled option. The shoe will be available in Maison Margiela stores and will surely inspire a cult following throughout the year.
Military influences and a general sense of deconstruction were the key themes in Margiela‘s Spring 2020 collection. Balancing the theatrical showmanship of creative director John Galliano with the signature avant-garde minimalism that brought Maison Margiela to fame almost 30 years ago, the collection is a dramatic take on the realities of conflict. Uniforms were bluntly cropped and refabricated in unorthodox materials, trench coats were enhanced with perforated details (similar to army nets), and an assortment of headpieces, including helmets, nurse’s caps, and berets, further emphasized the military influence of the collection. Of course, a number of classic Margiela-isms were featured throughout the presentation, including white hand-painted boots, abstract graphic prints, and raw hems that elicited a sense of urgency.
Watch the Maison Margiela Spring 2020 show above now.
Hubert de Givenchy, fashion revolutionary and founder of the House of Givenchy in 1952, died on Saturday at the age of 91. The industry mourns the death of the man who single-handedly recreated the fashion facade of the world after World War 2 with his creations for Audrey Hepburn in classic movies including Breakfast at Tiffany’s,Funny Face, and How to Steal a Million.
Longtime friend of Hepburn, Givenchy also worked alongside then unknowns Pierre Balmain and Christian Dior. He further worked for Elsa Schiaparelli and admired Cristobal Balenciaga. Even his successors at his eponymous house included John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Julien McDonald and the more recent, Riccardo Tisci, have gone on to carve their own legacies. His influence on 20th century fashion and beyond is immeasurable — Givenchy invented the ‘little black dress,’ after all.
Hubert de Givenchy’s work and own style was innovative for the time, yet timeless in the long run. He was the face of Parisian chic, and that’s precisely how the world will remember him.
At just 7 AM this morning, the internet was already abuzz with the seemingly sudden announcement that John Galliano—the legendary fashion designer who, after leading the house of Christian Dior for just over five years was fired in 2011 after a heavily-publicized anti-semitic controversy—is to be next creative director of fashion dissociative brand Maison Martin Margiela. Perhaps the most provoking of any morning brews, the pairing, though a mouthful of syllables, forms the single most unwavering three-lettered-word burning through the minds of Margiela devotees, fashion academics, and anyone outside of this insular industry right now: why? Why is this happening? Why do we care? Nothing makes sense.
Dior image: MyDaily.
Last we left him, Galliano had been working out of Oscar de la Renta’s studio via Anna Wintour, and the three leaders of what can only politely be described “red carpet fashion” hinted a potential permanent position for the deposed designer at ODR HQ. As it seems now, that is no longer the case. Known equally for his dramatically-feminine design as his own saga of personal controversy, Galliano gives himself away as the immediate “which one does not belong” for the Italian brand whose first rule—in really all accounts—has always been silence. When the house’s eponym and founding designer left in 2009, his departure was as spotlighted as much as his profile during his reign… in that it was not. The brand, whose strength has always been in its rule-breaking yet somehow subverted style, often times embracing the distorted and blinding qualities of fashion has never been about flash. Extravagance? Yes. Glamour? Of course. But never ostentatiousness—save for a few H&M and Kanye West-prodded moments as of late. In fact, the leading eye of MMM’s design in recent years—a suggested “collective of minds”—was kept unknown until only this past summer, when Vogue’s Suzy Menkes outted him in an online feature.
Marigela image: Vogue UK.
While it still remains to be rectified if out of ironic or pure persuit, today, hours after the recent announcement, like an oil-saturated meal, the true consequences of this decision are still digesting. In a statement the president of OTB (the group that owns the brand), Renzo Rosso said “Margiela is ready for a new charismatic creative soul. John Galliano is one of the greatest, undisputed talents of all time.” Thereby further destroying the utilitarian ethos and the hopeful idea each season that what Maison Martin Margiela presents upon the runway is just another step on the incline toward progressing fashion further of the brand. Like many conversations, the issue doesn’t evolve from the technologies or manual design in question, but rather the engineer that thought them up in the first place.
Resignations, unlikely duos, and ethnic face-face-face: no this isn’t an episode of Scandal, it’s our 2013 men’s fashion in review! So slide on that bucket hat, put Beyoncé on pause (we’re sorry B), and get ready to say goodbye to one wild year in menswear.
Apart from his SS14 runway show this past September (perhaps the most talked about RTW presentation in a long time), in which Rick Owens sent a cast of multiracial and multi-sized step dancers down the Parisian catwalk, fashion's dark sheep designer had a pretty big year. From the surprise announcement of a sneaker collaboration with adidas—initially conceived as a way for Owens to stay in shape (“I’m in my fifties now, and I need to do something for my heart and lungs,” he told WWD in June, "I thought to myself, ‘What shoes am I going to wear running?’ I can’t wear my big chunky basketball shoes–I’d look like a dinosaur running through the Tuileries”)—to an online e-commerce "evolution," hints of an LA outpost , and even some love for his family (long live fashion icon Michele Lamy). With all of these seeds planted, 2014 is looking like a very bright dark year. Just how he likes it.
Image courtesy of Huffington Post.
Marc Jacobs proclaimed in 2007 that "Fashion is not art," but we'll have to check back in with him in a few years from now, when he's proposing his own showcase. That's right: we're calling it now! We, on the other hand, believe in the preservation of couture, be it in an overpriced department store, or the cold stillness of a museum. This year we were delighted to see three major exhibitions that spotlighted highlights in men's fashion including; the avant-garde in Jean Paul Gauliter's retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum in New York, the whimsy in Paul Smith's show at the London Design Museum, and the genre-crossing in Punk: Chaos to Couture which featured Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci, Alexander McQueen, Comme Des Garcons, and more.
Image courtesy of CR Fashion Book, London Design Museum, Metropolitan Museum.
Baz Luhrmann, Miuccia Prada, Leo and Jay-Z reminded us what 1920's fashion looked like in The Great Gatsby, and why we no longer dress like that today.
Image courtesy of Warner Brothers Pictures.
Okay, it's not menswear, but when a duo of men emerge as unlikely as Oscar de la Renta and former Dior designer John Galliano, it does make news. After a recent rough few years, Galliano received an invitation in early 2013 via Anna Wintour for a temporary residence at ODR to consult on the brand's FW 13 RTW show. After a favorable presentation, and surprisingly amiable working relationship, rumor has it that a permanent post at the American fashion house may soon be extended to the disenfranchised designer.
Image courtesy of The Independent.
In November of 2012, after 15 years with the Spanish-designed French fashion house, Nicholas Ghesquire left Balenciaga. Fast forward to System Magazine'sdebut issue in April of this year, in which the designer cited that many of his issues came from the brand's overpowering parent company, Kering. Next, this past November year, almost 12 months exactly after his departure, Ghesquire was appointed Creative Director at Louis Vuitton Malletier, the biggest fashion brand for luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy. While it's not completely clear if jumping into a larger sea after having trouble with the tides in ocean is the best move, Paris eagerly awaits Ghesquire's inaugural runway show.
Image courtesy of NY Mag.
After putting his two-collection fashion line on hiatus, Yeezus collaborated with french outfitters APC this summer amidst about as much criticism from the streets as from the fashion elite. We mean, really, a white tee for $120? Well you can run, but you can't hide 2013, because here's the kicker: the collab is coming back again next year.
Image courtesy of APC.
Fashion designer Jeremy Scott was appointed Creative Director of Moschino, a brand he once interned at decades ago, in October of this year. Will this prove to be an outlet for sportswear in the luxury circuit, or is adidas' hype boy #1 finally growing up?
Image courtesy of Collectivedit.
In October blogger and style icon Susie Bubble wrote in Because Magazine, "We are approaching the logo with a new attitude. Rather than being slaves to a brand, we take ownership." And with this year's most popular items: retro snapbacks with K-E-N-Z-O spelt out in bold threads, Opening Ceremony's revival of Donna Karen's four famous letters, and all Brian Lichtenberg everything, the statement seems hard to deny. Will next year allow us to be more subtle, or should we invest in more old school Gucci loafers? It's hard to tell, but in the meantime we're still reeling our favorite 2013 name brand shout out: Will Fry's Raf Tee.
Image courtesy of Wil Fry.
In November, Ann Demeulemeester of the influential Antwerp Six published a heart-breaking letter announcing her departure from her own namesake.
Image courtesy of The Source.
Just days ago, William Morris Endeavor and Silver Lake Partners acquired IMG Worldwide Holdings Inc in an estimated $2.3 billion deal. What this means for all of us, is that Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week is now under different management, and with the program's contract with Lincoln Center expiring in 2015, the future for NYFW seems as grey as Viktor & Rolf's new boutique.
Brilliance and vibrancy resonate through John Galliano’s Spring 2014 collection. Bright blocks of color-robin’s egg blue suits, shirts and slickers of neon orange-jump into the eyes and swim there, compelling us to follow the models long after they have vanished from the runway. Elsewhere, pants and jackets are printed in dots large and small, patterns in their own way as loud as the colors that previously appeared. Bill Gaytten’s new work possesses an immediacy, a call for us to live in the moment.
