“Just clothing.” As ridiculously self-evident as that sounds, at MM6 Maison Margiela nothing is ever just anything. Behind its distinctive aesthetic is a methodology and, for those who know how to look, an element of surprise. In this season’s collection notes, the brand described this as “everyday dressing made strange.”
Then again, coming up with fresh takes on staples, disassembling them, and putting them back together is the MM6 studio’s stock in trade. Here, it offered up some answers to questions that probably have never occurred to the rest of us. Can detaching sleeves make a shirt cooler? Can a shirt be just sleeves? (Yes, on both counts.) How many shirtsleeves might it take to make a summer dress? About six, it appears, for a number in white cotton poplin. What do you get if you rip the stripe off tuxedo pants, or the yoke off a denim shirt? Nothing you’d find in dad’s closet, in any case. But if he was a Devo fan, he’d probably get a charge out of aviators compressed into a single, wraparound lens.
This lineup was rife with such sleights of hand, in earthy tones with pops of red or pink. Many of them reward closer inspection. A tailored, zippered blazer in classic men’s suiting, engineered to be worn with the lapel out or tucked inside, did a neat job of being multiple things to its wearer. Shirts, skirts, knits, and jackets with circular constructions amped up volume; an off-kilter lining took a chocolate pinstripe vest into rocker territory, and some looks flaunted a graphic split personality, as if someone had slid a cursor three-quarters across them.
Accessories brought the fun. An expanded jewelry offer played on how chains and whatnot get tangled up in the top drawer. A signet ring morphed into a cuff bracelet or ear cuffs, sautoirs sported twin mini-mirrors, and a link watch strap turned up minus the timepiece. A nude nylon mesh graced ballerina flats and the Japanese bag; those will likely connect with the brand’s fans. Ditto the Anatomic toe. Touches of suede added tactile appeal to the Salomon cross derby and the east-west Bauletto bag. Meanwhile, the new Salomon XT-M4 added a welcome shot of color in orange and acid green.