PARIS, Feb 26, 2007/ FW/ --- ‘A directional evolution’ of the Spring / Summer 2007 collection, Martin Margiela emphasized the shoulders once more for Fall 2007 / Winter 2008, creating exaggerated shoulders (50 cm), resulting to a more graphic silhouette making the models look like super heroines from the comics and video games.

With rings, hoops, tubes and loops as adornments and/or accessories, Margiela’s high concept designs were youthful and witty, even amusing at times, making the clothes covetable to edgier and fashion forward teens and twenty-something.

New this season is Margiela’s use of fluorescent fabrics, a technical feat by itself. Putting vivid tones and colors in natural fabrics is a very difficult process and it is rarely achieved. But Martin Margiela was very successful in creating this effect without recourse to synthesis.

The use of fluorescent shades of pink, yellow and green provided contrast to the black & white palette that dominated the collection amplifying the drama while softening the starkness of the two non-colors.

Still, the use of fluorescent colors is just one of the several technical achievements this season. A continuous length of fabric were used in the floor-length and mid-calf skirts, the garment beginning in a loop that drapes flat from the front and turns back onto the body creating long and midi skirts.

This technique was also used when these loops of fabric were proposed as adornments, wherein it is attached at the neck and worn along the back as a cape yet brought back around to cover the bust so closing the loop.

As for the most obvious shape this season, the pointed triangular raised shoulders; this was achieved with the use of a separate brace-like structure that defined the shoulder line.

Though it is not as obvious as the pointed shoulders, Martin Margiela also ‘fused garments’ wherein two different items of clothing were integrated into one another with one of them morphing into the structure of the other.

This effect was seen in the figure hugging black evening dress seen from the front, and then it turned out to be a cat suit at the back.

The collection is far from being commercial, but there are so many wearable pieces that it will not be surprising to see them on store shelves this coming fall. With this, Martin Margiela proved that high concept dressing is also sellable.

And for Martin Margiela fans, this collection also signals the culmination of years of research of their favorite designer. Hints about it was given during the Spring 2005 season when Margiela showed literally a work in progress, i.e., bolts of fabrics were actually shown on the runway. And today, we finally saw the finale.

Martin Margiela

Martin Margiela

Martin Margiela

Martin Margiela