The last eight looks of the MM6 Maison Margiela Pre-Fall collection feature graphics, ruffles, or color-blocking designs that spell out Margiela, one letter per look. The M plissé skirt is immediately legible, while the black and white denim look that forms the R requires a little imagination to get. Will people wear just the G? Unclear, but this puzzle-like approach to branding is an amusing, if obvious, diversion in the age of logomania, capturing some of the tongue-in-cheek mischief the brand is known for.
The rest of the collection ditches the logo winks in favor of smart and subtle takes on the house’s signature subversion. The opening ensemble redoes Margiela’s vareuse shape as a tuxedo tunic, and a shirtdress is styled with a cummerbund–fanny pack hybrid. (Call it a cummer-bag?) There’s a raincoat worn with an ingenious water-repellent plissé skirt, an enormous wool-blend poncho-scarf hybrid, and shift dresses in plaid and denim that unzip up the back to reveal a midi dress underlayer. In a twist, the MM6 design team is offering gray and beige outerwear with posh ribbon belts—the kinds of things you wouldn’t expect from an avant-garde label but would be glad to wear with that rich purple velvet smock or a lacy caped evening dress.
The star of the collection is a blazer-skirt combo that comes in contrasting plaids, maroon and butter yellow, or all black. With a button mechanism that reveals the entire left leg, it’s kooky enough to be Margiela-approved, but worn with a simple trouser, it would look devastatingly chic.
