Chain Reaction II

fig a. A panel dress by Martin Margiela. And a panel dress by Maison Martin Margiela. Restaged in the latest pre-collection lookbook that looked back to the label's beginnings.

fig b. A trench coat by Veronique Branquino. And a trech coat by Veronique Branquino, accompanied by variations of Anderson and Anonymous (Maison Martin Margiela).

fig c. A black suit and the iconic image of Stella Tennant by Mark Borthwick. Two classics that set the tone for the retro-designer-triptych.

fig d. A pinstripe dress. A striped dress. A checked suit. And a shirt bra. The chronological emancipation of menswear, seen here pushed furthest by Anderson who always bows to and borrows from Kawakubo.

1. Maison Martin Margiela Spring/Summer 2006
2. Maison Martin Margiela Pre Spring/Summer 2015
3. Veronique Branquinho Fall/Winter 2004
4. Veronique Branquinho Pre Spring/Summer 2015
5. J.W. Anderson Pre Spring/Summer 2015
6. Maison Martin Margiela Pre Spring/Summer 2015
7. Maison Martin Margiela Spring/Summer 1999 & Mark Borthwick Stella Tennant, 2000
8. Maison Martin Margiela Pre Spring/Summer 2015
9. Veronique Branquinho Pre Spring/Summer 2015
10. J.W. Anderson Pre Spring/Summer 2015
11. Maison Martin Margiela Pre Spring/Summer 2015
12. Comme des Garçons Fall/Winter 1995
13. J.W. Anderson Pre Spring/Summer 2015
14. Veronique Branquinho Pre Spring/Summer 2015

The world is a faded cloth. Designers are looking back to their origins, their founding years. The 1970s via the 1990s. Even if they weren't there. Together, they are recreating classics.

Veronique Branquinho 2015 = Veronique Branquinho, circa 1995 (regaining)
J.W. Anderson 2015 = Comme des Garçons, circa 1995 (redoing)
Maison Martin Margiela 2015 = Martin Margiela, circa 1995 (remembering)

Their colours are beige, black and blue. Their garments are tailored and masculine with softened volume and deconstructed details. Everything is nostalgic like blurry sepia images in a family album. But unfortunately, those photos aren't real, they are the result of filters.
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Image credits Vogue

Bow (Down) Job

1. Alasdair McLellan Self Service No. 23, 2005
2. Dior Homme by Hedi Slimane Fall/Winter 2005

Reminiscing about Dior Homme by Hedi Slimane is always a solemn act, pre-ceremony-worthy, wrapping good moments in glittery lurex, decorating it off with a soft, big, blown-up bow. Happy Holidays!
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In The 7th Year...

Steven Klein Dieux DV Stade, 2008

This 2008 editorial has an almost nostalgic quality to it, reminding us of the very beginnings of this blog, founded six years ago in 2007. Since then, over 2.5000 posts have been published, producing a short history of popular culture on its own.
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A Short History Of The Comic Strip In Popular Culture IV

1. Yohji Yamamoto Spring/Summer 2009
2. Yohji Yamamoto Fall/Winter 1987
3. Yohji Yamamoto Spring/Summer 2004
4. Yohji Yamamoto Spring/Summer 2002
5. Yohji Yamamoto Fall/Winter 2007

The Yohji Yamamoto appreciation edition. Throughout the years, comic derivates re-appear within the menswear collections. Ranging from stylized hand silhouettes to Geisha portraits and pixelized computer characters. From poetic to rather ridiculous, they reflect a constant 'twinkle in the eye' as core of an aesthetic universe.
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