Alexis Martial's work for Iceberg has been aerodynamic since he arrived at the Italian brand, but this season it felt particularly streamlined. So it wasn't much of a surprise to hear that he was looking at aviator gear and the graphic design of airplanes themselves for inspiration. Martial refrained from showing anything quite so obvious as an MA-1 flight jacket. Instead, his variations came cropped and fitted in multicolored intarsias of shearling, or elongated to the knee in color-blocked nylon with ribbed-knit collars. The connections between the airport landing strips on his mood board and the graphic sweatshirts that came down the runway with his signature high-waisted pants were obvious. On the surface, at least, orchid prints had less to do with the aviator women he was talking about backstage, but they had little of the saccharine sensibility that floral motifs often do, which was a good thing.
Martial is a precise, considered designer with a consistent point of view, and as he's settled in at Iceberg, his clothes have gotten progressively more ready for their real-life close-ups. There were none of the stiff, spongy fabrics he favored at the beginning of his stint, for example. The rumors going around have Martial, who is French and a former assistant to Riccardo Tisci (though his aesthetic is more Nicolas Ghesquière-inclined), heading to Paris for the Carven job. It was left vacant when Guillaume Henry departed for Nina Ricci. If it's true, Martial will be missed. In his four seasons here he's given Iceberg a distinctive look and attitude.
