At Maison Martin Margiela we were treated to an unusual musical arrangement. The venue was segmented, with a different musician in each part, making up a classic four-piece jazz-rock band. Each part played off of each other without seeing each other, and the audience experienced their musicians separately while hearing the whole.

The theme of the collection was light and shadow, though as we’ve come to expect from the house of Margiela, it’s never that simple. The show, with its all-black cast, opened with white and off-white combinations of exaggerated corduroy and other heavy fabrics in a manipulation of light and contrast. High shine silver metallics were then added to the mix, literally reflecting the light. There were other playful touches, too, like trompe l’oeil lapels on jackets and a trench, and the re-appropriation of old sew-on badges and decals, creating a patchwork effect—a shadow of the past creating something new. Classic Margiela.

Reworked bleached vintage T-shirts suggested the past as a shadow still with us. And it reinforced the live band, who, despite keeping it cool and playing jazz the whole way through, broke into a cover of Lenny Kravitz’ Are You Gonna Go My Way for the finale.