Living the life of a Russian dandy.

The world of fashion has been imprinted with the lasting effect of London Fashion week. Two weeks of runway shows, pre collection looks and long parties have left those in the industry, feeling slightly be-lingered. Most of those not in the industry seem to find it hard to distinguish between a solid AW14 outfit, and a pile of crap that just so happened to be clean for the day ahead - so here is a breakdown.

Maison Martin Margiela has been at the forefront of men's couture for decades, and although unbranded and anonymous... Season after season they're the dark horse in idealistic pret a porter. The theme behind the AW14 mainline collection was an ambiguous twist combining the dark side of coal mining in Eastern Europe and the aesthetic of a casual dandy.

The colour palette is representative of the newly introduced 'blue story' inclusive of midnight, bright blue, navy and petrol. Along with this story combines dark Browns and blacks which tie into the classic deconstruction look of the brand.

 

             

Another prominent look has been the combination of traditional  English herringbone tweed, mink and gunner jackets. All ready to wear pieces in the collection are designed to be combined with one another, in order the replicate a layered and deconstructed outfit, representative of the theme behind the collection.

All in all the collection seems bland, boring and overpriced for what you see on the rail, never the less, let us just forget that a true sense of fashion comes from the ability to formulate and style an outfit, not the critique an off the rail piece.

Maison Martin Margiela - Just a one hit wonder?

Margiela has, in recent year, been know for his Avant Guarde collections which, although not as outlandish as say, Gareth Pugh, have still caught the attention of consumers and critics alike. A lot of people don't know, but Maison Martin Margiela as a brand, debut the first collection in 1989. This is a surprising factor for those of my age, as Margiela has only been known to us over the past decade or so. This is of Louise in comparison to long lying brands such as Chanel, Valentino, Oscar De La Renta and Dior. On the other hand, it's obviously a good factor to think the brand has been around a lot longer than its original inception. This gives us consumers the impression the haus has a bigger name for itself, than perhaps initially projected.

According to writers and those high up in the industry, Menswear was said to be pushing menswear fashion like never before, but truthfully I don't see it. Yes of course Margiela knows how to out a small spin onto a timeless or classic garment to make it look 'edged' or ironically 'fashionable' but all I see is the neutral reinvention of East London's hipster scene.

Having said that, from closer observation of the first, second and last image you can see something slightly unusual. This something seems to be an inverted waistcoat of even a severed tailcoat. A couple of these have creeped up in fashion before, but never in menswear (as I recall). Although giving off a horse riding facade, I definitely think this works. It gives a lot more animation to the piece and gives it the edge that guys like me are looking for in casual tailoring.

On a plus the styling is impeccable, and even though Margiela himself has resigned from the company, his high standards if styling, tailoring and colour palette are still in place. So all in all the collection is of course good, but remains as a bland, ever remaining mens collection with a few tweaks. Needless to say it is a Spring/Summer collection, and designers are continuously challenged with evolving their haus with such little to work with. Oh, and I must say. The way the belt has fallen on the first model... Gets me a little excited.