The Return of Galliano

As I mentioned here on "Oh, By The Way" a month ago, in the fall of 2014, John Galliano was named the new Creative Designer at Maison Martin Margiela (an unusual pairing given their disparate approaches to the art) and would be presenting his first collection for the house--and his first collection since his very ugly and very public fall from grace in 2011. Well, by all accounts, the show yesterday was a tremendous success. Presented, oddly, at the close of London Collections: Men, Galliano's women's wear collection, part of the Artisanal line at MMM, was awash with the DNA of both houses: de-constructed, re-constructed, but swirling with a decaying romance and ripped tulle.

Gone are the Galliano spectacles of yore. In a typical MMM clinical atmosphere (white walls, klieg lights), the show was effective despite--or perhaps because of a lack of said spectacle. The wow factor was in the cut of the clothing and not in the sets or historical references (however fascinating and fun they were when Galliano was at Dior). In this way, the spectacle was still there--maybe even more so. It is kind of like I.M. Pei's glass pyramid on the Louvre: they both bring out what is special about the other. Contrast brings interest. And Galliano's collection at MMM feels like looking at his past work in the sterile light of a lab... and it works.

In attendance at the show: besides a very small group of buyers for extremely high-end retailers and journalists, there was a very select group of friends and supporters like Anna Wintour and Kate Moss, fellow designers Christopher Bailey (Burberry) and Alber Elbaz (Lanvin) and Manolo Blahnik (um...shoes!).

http://www.maisonmartinmargiela.com/