Vest

This ‘Artisanal’ handmade leather jacket with applied horizontal rows of black and silver artificial hair was made by Maison Martin Margiela for fall/winter 2009–10, the first collection designed by the collective design staff since the departure of the designer. ‘Artisanal’, the line (0) of the numbered collections of the conceptual fashion house, consisted of garments reworked by hand, usually made out of vintage garments or low-value materials. Hair and wigs are a recurring choice of material for Margiela, who previously integrated wigs from theatre costume cast-offs, flickering between glamour and the abject.

The Artisanal line is the house’s answer to the highly regulated world of haute couture: it retains the handmade element, but by using typically low-value materials, time and duration are prioritized over luxurious materials. It is a silent statement that the human hand is what sets couture apart from throwaway fashion, not the luxurious or opulent materials used.