To say that Martin Margiela’s influence on fashion remains strong more than 10 years after he left his label is to state the obvious. Still it’s surprising to see what Margiela-isms designers choose to reference. For spring 2022 it was taped or bandeau-wrapped breasts that—then and now—seem to parallel the censor-bar aesthetic of the house’s look books and runways, where models’ faces were obscured across their eyes. Margiela might be the father of fashion invention, but the taping practice started out as a sort of life hack. As explained in The Artist Is Absent documentary, it was a way to get around model fees the house couldn’t afford to pay, but over time this cross-out became part of the brand’s lexicon.
Banded eyes preceded banded breasts (and Instagram’s nipple ban) chez Margiela. For many seasons models simply held their hands over their chests when modesty was required or desired. Bandeaus with an Ace-bandage-like feel made an appearance in 1999, but it is the slender cummerbund-style strap from the spring 2006 collection that designers seem to be referencing. Tape, which was also used that season, popped up for spring 2022 at Iggy Jeans’s intimate presentation in Stockholm. Vaquera, a New York label that has never hidden its admiration for Margiela, paid homage to the Belgian in several ways for spring, including showing models with banded breasts. These straps are an alternative to the ubiquitous bra top of summer 2021, but more than that, they seem to speak to the archival bent of fashion today and, of course, to the cult of Martin.
