THE DARK ARTS

John Galliano's AW09 Collection still serves as a strong reference point for cultural influence in fashion. Based upon Russian-Balkan folklore, models were draped in gossamer dresses and brooding makeup, glinting moonshine eye-shadow and dripping mascara, faces veiled in tulle. The runway itself an escapist fantasy of tunnel lights and snow. John Galliano may have left those bias cut dresses and fantastical silhouettes behind for a new kind of showmanship at Maison Margiela, but the key details, so immaculately crafted in this collection from the giant medallion belts that clasped models fragile hips to the haunting shredded veils that trailed behind them, will forever be marked in fashion history as a testament to his captivating imagination.