I was a teenager when I first came across the iconic tabi boots by Martin Margiela.
at first sight I recoiled but couldn't look away, this was the first time I was actually intrigued by design.
To me, fashion was about selling out, abusing creativity by a profit driven aristocracy. But I was no capitalist, I was just a working class girl who had recently shaved her head as a form of opposition to what she was being fed by society.
And this deformed shoe validated my discomfort towards a commercial homogeneity dictated by corporate overlords in pursuit of massive revenue. It illustrated eloquently that if we mute the noise of commercialism, designers and consumers are able to interact in a more meaningful way. All of the sudden, fashion went from being decorative to emotional.
Margiela's tabi boots were a revelation to me.