Sample sales are amazing. I am an muthereffin EXPERT at traversing the sample sale scene, and coming out with perhaps the weirdest, most head-scratching pieces in there. But I employ them like a pro. Take this Martin Margiela MM6 shirt piece. It’s the orange thing in the photos. It’s just a front piece of a tuxedo shirt or jacket, like the bib/collar. It’s basically a necklace and offers no real coverage. It is an illusion, and enigma, but damn if it’s not cool (it’s em em six, afterall!).
Portrait and concept by Celia Humphries フォト／コンセプト：セリアハンフリー
Shirt necklace and belt: MM6 Maison Martin Margiela
Shirt: Viktor & Rolf
Suspenders: Murua
Pants: Ambience
Shoes: 3.1 Phillip Lim
Gloves: From Metropolice (Osaka)
I decided to try out the plunging neckline trend, which is not difficult to pull off if you have a little confidence and some double-sided tape, just incase (get the strong stuff, but not the cheap brand, and don’t put it anywhere where the fabric doesn’t naturally lay on your skin or it could show through). The MM6 brand often shows in black and white colors and in a militaristic aesthetic, so I took inspiration from that and paired it with some French military pants, a Rick Owens leather visor, and some Murua suspenders.
My tuxedo shirt/piece hybrid thingy? Looks like this on the runway. WHO STYLED IT BETTER? Kekeke..
例のマルジェラのアイテム？ショーではこんな風に提案されてた。どっちがこなしてるだろう？？？w
But let’s talk about the new collection. The day of the 2014-15 FW show, NYC had reached arctic levels of uncomfortable wintery temps. And when a venue is on the west side, it seems even colder, on the edges of Manhattan where the freezing river wind whips down the street. We were fighting that on top of traversing the icy landscape, having to strategize every step so you wouldn’t land on a wayward ice patch and slip and break your neck. Neck braces aren’t the height of fashion, afterall (they make your neck look so fat, you know?).
So even just getting there was a gargantuan effort. When we arrived, we had to take our spots in the “standing” line, as our seat request was late and they accommodated us the best they could. The disparity of the “haves” and “have-nots” were huge in this case; you’re ushered into the warm basement immediately, or told to wait outside in the night cold for 45 minutes. “We’re only doing this for Margiela. We’re only doing this for Margiela. We’re only doing this for Margiela…” was a mantra we repeated over and over again to brainwash ourselves, or numb our senses, in-between debating whether we should go to dinner instead and watch the video on NowFashion.com later.
A few minutes later, we were in the venue and the show was starting. Canadian crooner Sean Nicholas Savage belted out tunes (“He looks like youuuuuuu but he’s not youuuuuuu” is STILL stuck in my head, for better or worse). MM6 is definitely a New York brand. It’s avantgarde only on the outside, but in its core it is as wearable a brand as Calvin Klein. Check out the “package” theme, like bubble wrap mailer clutches, and items coated in weather-resistant plastic, like those expensive fancy priority mail bags. The boots have my name on them, and perhaps they are more practical than my shirt piece..well noted.
-Misha Janette
-Natsumi Yasuoka