The male body has been under the spotlight this menswear season. First Tomas Maier showed relaxed gym wear pieces at Botega Veneta. Then Dries Van Noten championed the athletic male dancer. And today Maison Martin Margiela, hardly a house you'd associate with buff bods and pecks, offered their own exploration of the male form, playing a game of conceal and reveal with viewers.
Amongst more conventional tailored looks, one model appeared in an airy coat and knitted top but no trousers. Another wore a sheer vest, and one more wore a pair of roomy parachute pants with a thin layer of sheer fabric over the top like a halo for the body. The final set of pieces were a set of 'tromp l’oeil' body suits, worn as tight as a second skin, which created beautiful beaded patterns that complimented and highlighted the form while branding the skin like MMM temporary tattoos. That variation of normality - bikers, suits, trenches - alongside such experimental pieces got you pondering the rules of dressing. Why is showing certain flesh appropriate while the visibility of other parts is so frowned upon? Why is is normal to have the top half of your outfit different to the bottom and not say the left different to the right (some pairs of trousers came with two different legs, one denim, one tailored). But Maison Martin Margiela has always been about challenging style traditions and making us see clothes in new ways, so this collection felt on point.
