MM6 Maison Margiela Introduces An Upcycled Patchwork Capsule

A sustainability move in the wake of coronavirus.

In the digital stretch of fashion week that cottoned onto the fashion spectra as Covid-19 rippled across our world, Maison Margiela’s John Galliano took to the Spring/Summer showings with S.W.A.L.K. II, an expressive riff off his part one debuted back in July, trading on the obsessive passion, the physicality and the ethos of tango. Galliano put the spirit of Argentina to the metronome of Nick Knight-lenses, and married the excess of fashion to the discipline of dance, sealing the Parisian shows ‘With a Loving Kiss.’

Now, MM6 is offering us the Upcycled Patchwork capsule in a clutch of muted motifs, and cylindrical-heeled 6 boots. These one-off renditions of iconic house silhouettes play to the sustainability promise of the maison, dating back to Martin Margiela’s 1994 Replica, and perhaps most memorably, to 2020’s Autumn/Winter rendition: ‘Recicla,’ conceived under the creative direction of Galliano.

Yet, rather than searching for grails amongst heaps of spent vintage, MM6 has pivoted the upcycling modus to remain in-house, leveraging the woes of lockdown to become leaner, sourcing materials under the steam of circularity. It’s a move to curtail their dependence on an over-extended supply chain – one quite pilloried since the onset of the virus in March. Surplus fabrics from archival seasons have been reimagined as patched iterations of the Japanese tote bag and geometric-heeled mules, finding place in the capsule for a limited edition run.

“It’s slower fashion, it’s all those things that we believe in. You can give something another life, longevity, and it’s also buying with a conscience,” Galliano said of A/W’s Recicla in an episode of his podcast, The Memory Of… “The joy that we will be able to sell these pieces amongst the rest of the collection just thrills me. I think it’s really exciting!”

Without pause, Maison Margiela’s sustainability ballad holds true and fast to the climate of fashion today, and Galliano’s ‘buying with a conscious’ could very well be the shape of things to come. The MM6 Upcycled Patchwork collection is due in boutiques and on the site come Jan. 15. Explore the four-count capsule below.

MM6 Maison Margiela Upcycled Patchwork Capsule//KCD
MM6 Maison Margiela Upcycled Patchwork Capsule//KCD
MM6 Maison Margiela Upcycled Patchwork Capsule//KCD
MM6 Maison Margiela Upcycled Patchwork Capsule//KCD
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