Consistency, rather than change, was Martin Margiela’s m.o. at Hermès, a house where, said onetime CEO Jean-Louis Dumas, “We don’t have a policy of image, we have a policy of product.” To that end, the designer created clothes in the same keepsake mold as the famous Kelly or Birkin bag; forever pieces that were not designed to become obsolete. Evolving the same silhouettes season after season, Margiela worked to expand the meaning of luxury by developing ever more innovative materials and ways of working with them that exploited their special qualities and enhanced their comfort. Hermès provided the means with which Margiela could explore the tactile qualities of fashion at the highest levels.
The designer’s restrained palette, mostly beige and white for this collection, kept attention on the shapes and the ease with which they were worn. Linen dresses were shown with flat, strapped sandals and the white vareuse was paired with well-cut trousers. These no-fuss looks somehow suggested that the wearer was familiar with the accoutrements of wealth, such as gleaming brass and varnished wood of a private yacht. Margiela’s sense of balance was so fine that the collection was evocative, even though it was not narrative-based. Note that not one bag was shown, but the models did sport the Cape Cod watch, updated with Margiela’s double-wrap wristband.
