(All photos c/o Style.com & Vogue.uk)

Maison Martin Margiela’s spring 2010 Ready-to-wear runway show struck me primarily as experiential performance art. The idea of fashion itself felt at though it was more of an afterthought to the main artistic performance; a convenient subject matter and the runway an under-utilized performance venue. Judging from some of the reviews out there, response has been mixed at best.

Is it art? Assuredly.

Is it wearable…the truest test of a consumable such as fashion?  Perhaps.

The number of women who will actually spend money on such experimental fashions - particularly since they seem to be composed of papery fabrics and blocky styles is very limited.

The phrase that came to mind while I was browsing these images was ‘Retro-futuristic‘.  These styles are incredibly reminiscent of the various space-costumes seen in The Jetsons, 1950’s-60’s B-movies,  and the old Buck Rogers television show (Colonel Deering, anyone?).

As to the footwear, it was an attention-getting mix of baggy boots, the occasional basic pump, and legwarmers-cum-gaiters-cum-hip wader/chaps.  I have to wonder, where is our attention supposed to be here?  There is so much going on visually with each model; each look seems to have it’s own competition going on between outfit and accessories; only a few looks managed to succeed in being both interesting and balanced.

So, is this intriguing? Yes.

Wearable? Maybe, if some of it is scaled down a bit. Right now these are so conceptual and over-proportioned that most wearers will get completely lost among the garments & shoes. I’m a big believer that you should wear your clothing, your clothing shouldn’t ‘wear’ you.

Plus, I’ve done the baggy slouched boot before.  Boots that slouch past a certain point simply become physically irritating as they move around the leg and foot with a life of their own. There really is a point where a boot gets too baggy to practically wear.