The Success of Maison Martin Margiela's Daisies

Maison Martin Margiela's S/S15 show marked what Karen Langley termed "the end of an era," the last collection produced by the house before John Galliano was announced as the new Creative Director. It was only months previously that Suzy Menkes exposed Matthieu Blazy as head designer in her Autumn Couture report, shattering the carefully-constructed public anonymity that had shrouded the house since Martin Margiela's departure. Amid this noisy media swirl, the collection itself could easily have fallen into the shadows. However, in spite of the frenzy, the collection – particularly, its daisy motif – is one that stands alone as a particular success and featuring over and again in AnOther Magazine S/S15. Here, we explore the moments it appeared and discover why.

Karen Langley and Charlie Engman 
Stylist Karen Langley explained that the show “was hands-down my favourite collection of the season… it’s completely feminine without being feminine. It’s for the woman who wants to look like a woman but still have a strength about her, and I think there was a real sexiness about it. So many layers, so many sheers, but with a pureness and evenness. The kind of sexy that I’m into.”

Inspired by Emmanuelle Seigner’s personality and ever-present sexuality, Langley’s collaboration with Charlie Engman took place in floral-infused Parisian apartment and yet, in spite of the repeated presence of floral motifs – from the décor to the daisies and the Dolce & Gabbana socks embroidered with carnations – it retained the same strength that was seen in the Margiela collection. The delicacy that was paired with sheer mesh and knitwear at the Margiela show was again re-contextualised by Langley and Engman, who teamed it with a serene sensuality that captured Seigner at her best.

Katie Shillingford and Ben Toms
The collection's enamel-coated daisy earrings are one of its greatest offerings: the perfect combination of the delicate and brutal, one must spear the metal stem of the flower through one's earlobe to secure its position. Its inclusion within Ben Toms and Katie Shillingford's story for AnOther Magazine S/S15 encapsulates a running theme within the images: a harmonious balance between the prettiness of florals and something somehow unnatural. Elsewhere in the series, wrists are tied with balloons, a latex glove rests upon a spiked stem; within this particular image, the model is dramatically drenched in a bloody red liquid, yet somehow maintains an aura of serenity. It is this subtle equilibrium that marks both the story as a whole and the daisy earring itself.

Katie Shillingford and Collier Schorr
One of our triptych of cover stars, Léa Seydoux wore an oversized patchwork robe covered in daisies for her story with Katie Shillingford and Ben Toms. An overarching notion of Orientalism runs through the wardrobe and clean, minimal set – thus, re-contextualised once more, the daisy robe clutched around her body becomes a kimono rather than a coat. Paired with Seydoux’s ethereal beauty and alabaster skin, it is yet another incarnation of a collection that is simultaneously strong, graceful and versatile, showing Margiela in its truest form.