“In juxtaposition to couture fashion Margiela’s concept of luxury appropriates only the element of workmanship, not the preciousness of the raw materials. The labels of such creations indicate only the number of hours of labour invested in the production of a garment, as the new criterion of luxury. Such a designation celebrates the standard of the craft at the same time as it critiques the value of excess of such labour-intensive investment. By the same token the exhibition, and the collections, are making a stand with regards to idealized standards of perfection, which, together with luxury, make up the fantasy of glamour. The Martin Margiela team is not celebrating the new or the perfect (all the core values of the fashion industry). Instead the collection references the aging process as a creative ingredient (not as a problem to eliminate). Second-hand materials are worked into the designs, dark clothes are painted with silver paints that do not quite cover completely, and crack with use, revealing the origin and creating an old patina- even with new clothes.”—Efrat Tseëlon, “Outlining a fashion studies project”