Enfnts Terribles

For the presentation of its Artisanal 2020 collection, Maison Margiela let legendary image-maker Nick Knight make a (short) film showcasing the making off of the couture line. It gives a never seen before look into John Galliano’s work progress.

S.W.A.L.K.

In the short film — that, with over 50 minutes, isn’t actually that short — we see how Galliano gets to work in a new and refreshing point of view. From Zoom calls with Nick Knight to talk about inspiration points and Pat McGrath to discuss make-up, to fitting sessions with his muses Leon Damme, Anton Engbrox, Niki Elisabeth Geux and more.

The artisanal collection is inspired by Galliano’s own Spring 1986 Fallen Angels collection. For that 1986 collection, models were doused with water before they walked the runway. “We’re trying to create that without water,” Galliano said of the self-reference. “That is the highest form of dressmaking.” Other sources of inspiration were Galliano’s archive of Blitz Kid clothing from the 1980s and the Margiela office building, which used to be a club.