MM6 urban, accessible in first NY runway show

NEW YORK - The young, urban and uninhibited MM6, an international label from Paris fashion house Maison Martin Margiela held an intimate show this weekend, its first ever at New York's Fashion Week.

Launched in 1997, MM6 is "a little more accessible, a little less intellectual" than the designer's main collections, said Renzo Rosso, owner of the legendary "anti-brand" and of parent company Only The Brave group.

It's also a little less expensive.

"The philosophy of the fashion house is still there," he told AFP, describing it as "avant-gardist alternative" and "against all rules as always."

"We try to focus on all these most important characteristics, but in slightly simpler way."

Unlike the fashion house's haute couture and ready-to-wear lines, both presented in Paris shows each season, MM6 had never before officially showed at Fashion Week.

"Everything in its time," Rosso explained. "We were always proud of the six line, it was always available in our boutique, with its own an identity.

"We thought that it was the moment for -- like children who stay at the house until 16 or 17 years old -- to tell them 'go, make your own way," he continued.

MM6 has also just opened its own first boutique last month in the heart of New York City's West Village. Future shops are planned for early next year in Paris and later in London.

Settling in the Big Apple was an obvious choice for the line, with the fashion house saying New York's cultural diversity was a perfect fit.

Visitors to MM6's show arrived at the small, mirrored space in the Chelsea neighborhood and were led by Margiela staff, clad in white cotton blouses, to view the 2013 spring-summer collection on hangers.

Some 20 young women, many of them redheads with dreamy pouts, then donned the pieces and walked down the runway, passing in front of a dozen smaller screens showing a presentation video.

The pieces paired fluid, supple textiles -- silk, wool and leather -- with rougher materials, from denim to transparent plastic high-heeled boots.

A print made up of designs from several previous collections, in vertical stripes, was used in a top and a long dress.

And another, drawing on military inspiration, was used for an outfit comprised of an oversized blouse, pants and sneakers.

Aimed at a wider audience and a daily wardrobe, the tops were simple, wearable and a far cry from the more elitist deconstructed style of the fashion house's main Parisian lines.

From a white cardigan made from a wide mesh to a transparent nylon windbreaker and a cotton vest worn over an oversized sweater in a light gray jersey, the MM6 line was easily adaptable to a variety of body types.

by Prune Perromat