8 posts tagged "Martin Margiela"
Case Closed
Type “Kostas Murkudis” into Style.com’s search engine, and just two results pop up. The Berlin-based designer—who worked for many years alongside Helmut Lang, and who has run his own eponymous label since1994—signed on as creative director of the German sportswear brand Closed last year. He won’t be operating under the radar much longer. On Friday, Murkudis teamed with his longtime friend, the artist Carsten Nicolai, to present his first capsule collection for Closed, dubbed Skywalk, at Gallery Weekend Berlin. Nicolai provided the video, a hypnotic twelve-minute clip culled from twelve years of photographs he took from the window seats of airplanes, and Murkudis contributed the clothes, a utilitarian range of pieces, for both women and men, inspired by a vintage aviator jumpsuit. There are jersey tees and button-front shirts covered with zips and, of course, a flight suit, but the stars are the trench, made from a denim-like twill fused with superfine mousseline (above), and a leather bomber that reverses to the same twill.
The jackets and coats in his main collection for Closed are likewise worth getting excited about. The thirty-five-year-old brand, which at different times was headed up by François Girbaud and Martin Margiela, has long been denim-focused. “I want to go back to the roots, to make clear what Closed was,” Murkudis told Style.com. “It was the first brand to do designer denim; there was just Levi’s, Lee, Wrangler. The mix of denim, utilitarian, and sporty elements is quite key to Closed’s DNA.” Look for Murkudis’ debut collection for Closed when Fall collections begin arriving at Fred Segal and American Rag in Los Angeles, and for Skywalk at Project No. 8 in New York. And don’t miss our Gallery Weekend Berlin photo report.
Niche Appeal: Two-Plus Decades Of Véronique Nichanian At Hermès
If Hermès has become a byword in and of itself for luxury, part credit goes to Véronique Nichanian, the house’s longtime menswear designer. Her colleagues on the women’s side—including Martin Margiela (1997-2003) and Jean Paul Gaultier (2003-2010)—have come and gone, but Nichanian has been at her post for some 21 years, during which time she’s injected a dose of levity into the house’s super-rich offerings and, over time, introduced the world’s first men’s-only Hermès boutique, on Madison Avenue, and a bespoke service that covers everything from suiting to shirting to knitwear. In New York last week to promote the personalized services at the 690 Madison store, Nichanian sat down with Style.com to talk history, longevity, luxury, and the only two bespoke commissions she’s ever turned down.
I hadn’t realized how many years you’ve been with Hermès—21, isn’t it?
Yes, I don’t count. Yes, it’s a long time, it’s a long story—a nice story. A love affair, almost. Still happy.
You’ve seen the menswear business change enormously in that time.
Oh, yes. The business is changing, and men generally speaking are changing.
How has that affected you?
It’s more fun. Everyone’s more interested in the men’s business, how men dress.
Do you feel like it’s changed the way you approach design?
Not at all. I’m still doing the same thing, the same approach, still considering in the same way the men’s universe and trying to propose things which are right for now—modern and exclusive at the same time.
How has the customer changed? You’re now dealing with a business that’s much more global than the one you entered into.
It’s a big business now. But generally speaking, that’s right that men are much more self-confident in the way they want to dress, and feel much more their own personality. They look at the magazines, of course, but they know themselves much more; they want to express their personalities. They’re less focused on having a suit to be serious. [They want] to have their own mix, to choose. They’re much more aware of what different [brand] names propose—different cut, different feelings, different philosophy. I think it’s a question of philosophy when you choose a house more than another one. Continue Reading “Niche Appeal: Two-Plus Decades Of Véronique Nichanian At Hermès” »
Weather Appropriate
After weeks of unseasonably mild weather, the temperatures have dropped in New York in the past few days. And although designer Luis Fernandez is a Miami native, he was on the same page. For his Fall ’12 menswear collection, the Number:Lab designer and CFDA Fashion Incubator (class of 2014) participant was inspired by ice climbing, glacial hiking, and Buckminster Fuller’s “ephemeralization” theory—essentially, doing more with less. The latter academic nod seems to come with the territory; Fernandez is a former architect and likes the clean aesthetics of Martin Margiela, Dries van Noten, and Tomas Maier. But it wasn’t quite the clinical iciness of, say, nineties minimalism. For one, he played with color and texture. The opening number (pictured), an overcoat and trouser ensemble, was cleanly rendered but in a ripe, rich red. Pants were a highlight, and one sharply tailored pair was spliced with gray charcoal in front and navy in back. Another tweed pair had an attractive seam that ran down the front of the leg. Later on, a wool plaid duffel coat in gray stood out. The fabric was given a polyurethane glaze and accessorized by sporty toggle closures, which gave a modern air without feeling too kitschy. Taken as a whole, Fernandez was most effective when the focus was on tailoring and less so when he veered into sporty territory—some pieces had enough visible zippers to be distracting.
Sportswear From An Oscar Winner, Sunday In The Park With Isaac, Dree And The Best-Dressed Catwalkers Of 2010, And More…
Bend it like… Swank? Hilary Swank is apparently the latest silver screener to get in on the celebrity-design game: She’s developing her own line of sporty activewear. [WWD]
Spend it like… Mizrahi? Isaac takes The New York Times through his Sunday ritual, which includes a morning swim, a midday dog walk, and plenty of HBO before bed. [NYT]
Hem it like… Hemingway? Modelinia walks us through its top ten best-dressed models of 2010, from stalwart veterans like Kate and Natalia to insurgent newcomers like Dree Hemingway (left) and Elisa Sednaoui. [Modelinia]
Bienvenue to Lemaire: WWD checks in with former Lacoste designer Christophe Lemaire, whose first collection for Hermès debuts in March. With all due respect to his predecessor, Jean Paul Gaultier, and his “virtuosity,” Lemaire says his own vision for Hermès will be closer to that of Martin Margiela, who helmed the house from 1998 to 2003. [WWD]
And au revoir to Robin Givhan-at The Washington Post, at least. The paper’s longtime fashion critic, who’s headed to Newsweek and The Daily Beast, signs off with an impassioned defense of fashion and its permanent place in the Beltway. [Washington Post]
Thirty-Five Years Of Gaultier, Tavi Gets Sassy, Spurring On Tommy, And More…
Jean Paul Gaultier is the latest designer to get the retrospective treatment: A career-long show of his work (a Spring ’09 couture look is at left) will debut in Montreal in June, before traveling to Dallas and San Francisco. It’ll be broken out by themes—including the tantalizing “Eurotrash/X-Rated”—and be accompanied by a catalog with contributions from Catherine Deneuve, Pierre Cardin, and even Martin Margiela, who began his career under Gaultier. [WWD]
Blogger sensation and avowed Sassy fanatic—despite the fact that she wasn’t actually around for it—Tavi Gevinson announced on her blog this weekend that she and Sassy founder Jane Pratt will be launching a magazine (not “Sassy (or the rebirth of Sassy, or Sassy 2.0)”, she cautions) and are calling for submissions. [Style Rookie]
Poor Brooklyn Law School students: Here they were, studying quietly in the library, and then they had to look at some undressed Diesel underwear models. [Racked]
After a successful few seasons having Peter Som consult on his womenswear line, Tommy Hilfiger is bringing in help for the men’s, too: Swarovski Award-nominee Simon Spurr will work on the Hilfiger label’s upcoming men’s collection. [WWD]