Maison Margiela Couture 19
For those of us feeling the fatigue of fighting hard to change the tide, there’s something cynically satisfying about seeing the signs of an old social order perishing before our eyes. Maison Margiela’s Fall 2019 Couture collection saw decadence decay, as loosely bodiced rubber wrap gowns trembled from the torsos of men, belted over cricket sweaters whose edges were gnawed and nibbled, or paired with page boy shorts and garter belts. Hand painted boots bore pasty strokes, lapping up to the knees with urgency as reptilian grains peeped through the chalky white. Utility wear crumbled from the body and crumpled khakis were shot with great holes, while sailor caps cracked and nautical shirts were provocatively cropped. Suiting surrendered its stiff upper lip, as pinstripe trousers were belted to chest like strapless dresses and unstarched shirt collars peeled away from fleshy shapewear. For all the antagonizing of opulence, texture told a tale of grotesque finery: scritta-thin organza sculpted a longline suit, so overlaid and tonal that it read like burnout velvet, veiling punch hole perforations, stringy outlines of houndstooth and warping leopard-esque splots. Raw-edged and baste-stitched pattern pieces cheated their fates as tailored jackets and shapeshifted into halter bustiers instead, finished with a Saran wrap-style headscarf or tulip cut suspender skirt, making way for outmoded institutions to be dissolved from the ground up.