Margarita Robertson of NOMd is an iconic figure in New Zealand fashion history and one of my personal top five great NZ fashion designers of all time. Margarita, or Margi, launched her exhibition 3.33.12 – featuring garments from her private wardrobe – during iD Dunedin Fashion Week at Dunedin Art Gallery on 17th March named for the 3 cities, 33 years of designing, and 12 outfits in the installation consisting of a mixture of NOM*d and other labels that have inspired her.
Personal favourites for me were the pieces I recall seeing on my own fashion “journey” through University years and owning my own fashion boutiques as well as attending all her nomD shows at New Zealand Fashion Week, including the short films they had made with Richard Shaw – who also shot the Tokyo film on the wall beyond- and showed at Auckland’s St James theatre. The gloves reworked as purses and gloves hanging off sleeves by Comme des Garcons, the masculine-meets-feminine clothing, and the oversized garments by Vetements, that all rethink what clothing means to our identity.
It’s hard to pick just one, but my overall favourite outfit was the pale cowhide dress with stockman sleeves by Maison Martin Margiela, with a real cork necklace that Margi said you could replace with the champagne cork that you drank to see the new year in.
The installation has a dozen mannequins dressed with a selection of thoughtfully chosen footwear including Doc boots and Margiela tabi boots shoes. They are mostly monochromatic and black with the exception of a printed Gaultier mesh outfit from 1992. The outfits from left to right are:
1. Comme des Garcons 1983
2. Comme des Garcons 1988
3. Yohi Yamamoto 1985
4. Zambesi 1984
5. Jean Paul Gaultier 1992
6. Maison Martin Margiela 1996
7. Maison Martin Margiela 1996-2000
8. Ann Demeulemeester 2003
9. Maison Martin Margiela 1996-2000
10. NOM*d various collections with Dr Martens boots
11. Rick Owens 2011
12. Vetements 2015 with Martin Margiela shirt, brooch, reworked denim jeans, and derby shoes.
Under the scaffolding was a bed of salt crystals with three movies projected on loops. Salt has been used as a catwalk two or three times before by Margi including an early show where it helped models grip the catwalk as well as give the illusion of frost on the ground.
Beyond the mannequins were massive wall-to-wall screens showing images from the 3 eponymous cities: Dunedin, Tokyo, and Paris, that have influenced her over the years and made her who she is now. The footage was shot especially for this exhibition by Max Bellamy, Richard Shaw, and Laurent Soler.
I highly recommend you visit Dunedin Art Gallery. I would fly to Dunedin for this if I wasn’t already here for iD. Margi Robertson’s retrospective fashion exhibition at Dunedin Art Gallery in the Octagon is a beautiful and stunning glimpse into her fashion journey.
Megan Robinson
18th March 2016
Photos by Kevin Robinson at the exhibition opening party.
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