John Galliano returns with his debut couture show for Maison Martin Margiela

The new era has begun. John Galliano started with Maison Martin Margiela Artisanal, a collection based on the concept of deconstructing to reconstruct, perfect metaphor of the parable of the designer from Gibraltar.

On the tune of "Hey Big Spender" sung by Shirley Bassey, in a white, aseptic space, in front of a very select audience of about 120 friends, including Alber Elbaz, Christopher Bailey, Manolo Blanhik, Nick Knight, Kate Moss and Anna Wintour, parades a  fragmented and surrreale Cabinet of curiosities.

Take a few minutes, just 24 clothes to consigned to the past scandals and controversies.

"Unbelievable. With this show we started a new chapter to this house" - said Renzo Rosso, owner of the holding Otb which is part of the Belgian brand - "John is a person increbile, a talent like no other. At this moment he has in mind only two words: dream and beauty. and that's what he wanted to tell with this parade. Where he wanted to talk about the clothes back to the essence of couture."

" It was brilliant," - continues Wintour - "What I loved was the mix: There was so much that we know and we love about John, but then he took the Margiela vocabulary and translated it in such an appealing and innovative way. I loved seeing all the toiles at the end where you can see all the work and the new embroidery".

The few lucky people in the room are kidnapped, thrilled. Network not talk about anything else and the comments are divided between fans and detractors.

- The technical expertise

Galliano shows off all his skill in tailoring, the  exquisite attention to detail, in the perfect calibrated cuts, evident in the simple clothes, in pant-suits, jackets, as well as in elaborate gowns. The essentiality of long red velvet dress and he bride with the face covered with pearls, defined by the fashion house "teardrops of memories" are moving.

- The Cabinet of curiosities

This collection is a parade of creatures fanastiche. The former enfant terrible evokes 'Arcimboldo in scarlet coat decorated with plastic shells that form a face full of  Milanese artist' style. There is a tribute to the aesthetics of Elsa Schiaparelli, a concession to the grotesque, which reaches its apex in the spectral empress wrapped in a long red draped robe, with mask and armor broken trinkets, beads and bronze.

- John Galliano at the end of the show comes out shyly, wearing a white coat, a symbol of the Maison Margiela, a legacy of anonymity that there is now no more, but which now becomes the symbol of a new sobriety acquired by the controversial designer.

- Margiela vs Galliano

There is something restrained, as if the designers had not felt free to express themselves fully. In an attempt to reconcile the codes of the Belgian fashion house with its overflowing extravagance Galliano remains suspended between deconstructivism minimalist (long tunics, the complete dry) and accesses, the hints raw and almost animalistic that animate creations in 3d, the bustier, the tulle trains.