He has taken his bow dressed as a pirate and a matador in the past but the designer John Galliano remained behind the scenes at his show for Maison Margiela in Paris yesterday.
Once one of fashion’s biggest personalities, he gave no interviews, preferring to let the clothes speak for him. This they did in the label’s trademark vocab of haute mash-ups and Galliano’s own taste for surreal eclecticism.
The look blended Forties silhouettes with New Age grunge. A classic trench coat came with folksy knitted sleeves. Khaki land girl tailoring was patched with felt shamrocks and flames. A diaphanous gown in metallic green Lurex was worn with a flowing full-length cape complete with tasselled hood. It was as if Nancy Mitford had gone to Glastonbury.
Forties-era tartan blazers had the decorated yoke of a western shirt and chunky cowboy belts to match. Models wore a teeteringly high, glam-rock take on hiking boots.
Galliano’s mix of shipshape and shabby references worked to glitchy but elegant effect. A boiled wool military coat spliced with the sleeves of a green nylon bomber jacket was both soignée and trendy.
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And for those customers not quite ready for this full-on vision? In among the headline looks were mixed deftly cut, timeless pieces — a perfect camel coat updated with deconstructed lapels, a sharp-shouldered black satin jacket and tuxedo pants with a stripe of shearling down each leg.
Galliano’s strength, even in his matador days, was his ability to create wearable clothes while showcasing the maelstrom of his imagination. For all his coyness in front of the cameras yesterday, that talent clearly hasn’t deserted him.