MM6 Maison Margiela’s conceptual cool in Covent Garden

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Sep 18, 2017

​From the ultimate conceptual brand –  Maison Margiela – a new concept: the ephemeral pop up boutique from MM6, which existed just for a two-hour presentation on a sunny Saturday in London.
 

An empty white space in Covent Garden with moody models rotated through the two shop windows. Inside the store, the all-white walls covered in a crazy series of graffiti – black marker gargoyles, street slurs; obscure texts; and declarations of love. All created over 48 hours by the team of MM6, the contemporary collection with the house of Margiela. The same graffiti that was printed all over skimpy leggings; over-sized matte white sweatshirts and some great patchwork caftans – in combos of polkadot, print and stripes. All based on boots in the dry white painted leather that is one of the key codes of this house. These were paired waxed mannish bomber jackets, massively oversized flared jeans and a great surgeon’s smock made of a plastic torso and silken sleeves.
 
Gangs of bloggers, editors, hipsters and just plain curious swung around the store all afternoon – intrigued by the sheer novelty of the project, as much by the bold clothes.

Deep within the very temporary shop, a fashion shoot, with the team all dressed in Margiela’s famed white laboratory coats. And blindingly, an all-white scene worthy of science fiction cult movie THX 1138, all to create the lookbook of the collection.

People may quibble that the house’s current owners may have over-commercialized this brand; but if that means more consumers get their hands on these clothes that is no bad thing. MM6 now retails in some 500 doors worldwide – introducing conceptual fashion to a new generation of fashion fans. Conceptual cool, clever, crafty and a little crazy in Covent Garden – and a lesson by MM6 to other marques on how to think outside of the fashion box.