martin margiela

If discretion is the better part of valour then the fashion industry is valiantly staying away from its red state friends and their new crusading new Queen, this isn't because we are uninformed princesses without a care for reality despite what we have said this past week and Guy Trebay has now reiterated, no we really just have no comment. Well OK, we like her up do even if we don't condone highlights. We bet Hilary wishes she had been left alone like this too.

Fred Segal has a new pop-up shop called 15 Minutes. It will be run like an art gallery, where the shop’s structure is permanent but the theme, decor and wares on display change regularly

Want to see a picture of Martin Margiela? Eric Wilson has one of the last invisible man. Really, because designers have gotten to be such little publicity hounds (and not for the reasons they should be like say their work) this quiet relative anonymity is considered quite shocking.

If you are concerned with what is or is not wearable on the catwalks, which we think is rather relative to your own comforts, then we suppose its nice that someone is keeping score.

Do you read seating charts like tea leaves? Well Givenchy has much fodder for the divination set as the front row was packed with LVMH executives. What does it all mean!

Perfumer Sarah Horowitz's fragrance brand is going mainstream by repackaging her premiere line of scents in a more accessible form and launching it in Anthropologie. We had no idea that even the perfumers had to go for down market markets and collaborations. Not that we are saying Anthropologie is down market per say.

We almost hate to make a critique of Maison Martin Margiela on their Twentieth Anniversary but the reliance the house has on the intellectual chestnut of anonymity has grown stale for us even as fashion conformity grows as a problem in identically merchandised style capitals across the globe. At no time is critiquing the sameness of fashion more necessary and yet never has it felt more stale to literally wipe out any traces of personality or identity when conceiving a catwalk. Yes, how clever, fashion obscures as it reveals, Frederick Jameson's photorealism and artistic simulacrum in a dress, the representing and the represented.  It's been done, and while everyone loves a "best of" show the collection leaves us unsure, amid the rumours, that a future is even warranted.

In the twenty years since the house begun the fashion landscape has changed, leaving behind unsteady footing for the avant garde. Barbarians are at the gate and an army of amateur editors lay waste to the minutiae of every gossipy detail. And so it is no longer enough to have one issue, no matter how salient, as an intellectual rallying point. We simply do not have the attention span (and even if we did we would question anonymity as one that needs to be reiterated season after season).

Many designer have gotten past this attention deficit conundrum not through better designer or stronger inspirations but through celebrities, political innuendo and skillful public relations. Perhaps Martin Margiela is too good for these gambits or perhaps he is not quick enough to operate on this new playing field. It is no coincidence that no one has even seen his photo and yet we must say that rather than heightening the allure it makes us say perhaps the emperor has no face. He has let us in on the joke and it turns out its not very funny. Post Modernism is over Martin.

>> Martin Margiela may rarely speak out, but over the weekend, plenty of people were doing some talking for him.  As the designer prepares for his twentieth anniversary Maison Martin Margiela show this evening, rumors are swirling that he is about to exit fashion entirely.

Over the last year, Margiela has told colleagues that he wants to stop designing and is looking for a successor, and two designers have admitted to be in talks with Renzo Rosso, who owns Maison Martin Margiela.  One of those designers may be Raf Simons, who earlier this year discussed the possibility of replacing Margiela before ultimately deciding to stay at Jil Sander.

Although some of Margiela's colleagues disagree, Renzo Rosso said last week that "for a long time [Margiela] has a strong team and does not work on the collection, just on special projects," which if true, leaves the potential new designer with an open door.
*image: source

We are so angry at the failure of the American government to propose a reasonable bailout strategy for Wall Street we can barely control ourselves, and while our problem may be emotional incontinence apparently a lack of control is the inspiration for Japan's newest fashion trend. Seriously, a fashion show of "nappies" aka diapers to show an aging population just how fashionable diapers can be happened in Tokyo. The funniest part? They played Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

Beauty behemoths may be well financed for the rough road ahead but smaller cosmetic firms are in for a tough time.

French Jeweler Mauboussin is opening a Madison Avenue boutique

Belgium designers are getting a grip on business, Maison Martin Margiela, Ann Demeulemeester and Dries Van Noten are opening stores and entering into licensing agreements in order to boost their sales.

It turns out not advertising can be good for business if you have eager broke customers shopping your store for the price point and not that quality.

Men, still the new women.

Jeremy Scott, who will show his namesake collection in Paris on Sept. 30, has signed a multiseason deal with activewear giant Adidas to design apparel and footwear for men and women. Streetwear designers Alyasha Owerka-Moore and Kazuki are also involved. His winged high tops are actually pretty cool.

>> BLOWING THE COVER —September 2008 Interview is in full-on Fabien Baron mode, with a glossy cover, font blocks, designer cameos, plus an interview with Kate Moss and the first Martin Margiela interview in ten years.  A preview of the goods with just one click (NSFW). [Chic Report]