Supreme’s MM6 Maison Margiela Collab Is Full of Great References

The rumors were true. 

Supreme has officially revealed its collaboration with MM6 Maison Margiela, a sub label of Maison Margiela founded in 1997 that offers everyday staples to complement the main line. And we don't even have to wait very long to try and own some of it. It all drop on Thursday, March 28. As expected, there are plenty of great references to pieces from the Margiela archive. The DNA of the storied luxury fashion house has been fused perfectly with Supreme's streetwear roots by utilizing its design language on silhouettes like workwear double knee pants and graphics T-shirts. Sorry everyone, no Supreme-ified GATs or Tabi boots to speak of (it’s for the best). 

Many people, myself included, thought this collab was unnecessary when rumors starting swirling a few weeks ago. While Supreme has worked with other luxury brands in the past like Jean Paul Gaultier or Louis Vuitton, what do these storied fashion houses really have to do with Supreme? But I've been proven wrong. The final result is better than expected. The black work jacket might even end up in my closet. But the jury is still out on the oversized graphic T-shirt featuring a flaming skull print designed by Liquid Blue. Yes, the Liquid Blue responsible for Juicy J’s iconic “Stay Fly” T-shirt.

The collection isn't perfect, but we definitely can't knock the execution. We dove into some of the references throughout the impending capsule, below. 

This is the one that everyone is excited about. This wallet mimicking the look of a Supreme receipt folded in half is a reference to Margiela's $11 bill wallet from 2008. It’s definitely one of the most fun flips of Margiela’s archive featured in the drop. It succeeds in referencing an iconic Margiela item many of us immediately recognize without feeling played out like some tabis would have. If you have a Grailed account, the $11 bill wallet is like folklore. If you know, you know. Expect this Supreme accessory to become a future grail. In a few years, this is going to be the item you wish you had.

One of the most detailed pieces from the capsule is this varsity jacket. The outerwear takes the same approach as a patchwork varsity jacket released by Margiela in Spring/Summer 2015 that stitches together multiple styles into one. It’s the same technique popularized by Japanese brand Needles on its flannels, T-shirts, and hoodies. What makes Supreme’s take on this so cool is that it nods to its 30-year history. The left side is pulled from Fall/Winter 2006’s All City design, the center panel is from the Motion Logo jacket from Fall/Winter 2018, and right is the Wool Crew varsity from Fall/Winter 2015. You probably don’t need all three of these in your closet. Consider this the perfect compromise and a brand history lesson all in one. 

One of Margiela’s signature design cues are its painted items. Known as Bianchetto, the technique sees items covered in a layer of white paint that is meant to chip away gradually over time to create a one-of-one piece for the wearer. It’s been applied to everything from sneakers to denim jeans. For this Supreme collab, it appears to have been used on white and black hooded work jackets, double-knee work pants, and camp caps. While the Box Logo hoodies appear to have the same application, they are merely printed to look like they are coated in paint, which is sort of a bummer, but who really wants paint chipping off their fleece hoodie anyway? The idea of the white paint wearing away is also played with on a skate deck where the fresh paint job is made to strip away to reveal Supreme’s iconic red Box Logo underneath. If you grab the deck, please just don't take some sand paper to it. Go get some lipslides in. If you don't skate, get creative.

Wigs are a big part of Margiela’s history. Martin Margiela grew up in a salon. His father was a hairdresser. Thus, he has always made sure to reference his upbringing in various ways. One of the most infamous examples is the wig coat from Spring/Summer 2009 made of blonde hair extensions. Margiela, who is famously anonymous and press averse, is also known for obscuring the faces of models on his runways with items like wigs and masks. Most notably, Desiree Heiss and Ines Kaag's Bless created wigs made of repurposed fur for Margiela's Fall/Winter 1997 runway show. Sure, it’s a bit silly to hit the Supreme site to cop a blonde wig. But it’s a nice bit of storytelling that’s cool to see made the final cut for this collab. Consider this a collector's piece for the archive more than a practical hair piece. 

For the latest rendition of Supreme’s Box Logo T-shirt, the two collaborators employed trompe l’oeil, a technique in art and fashion where a three-dimensional image is printed on a two-dimensional surface to trick the eye. In this case, a classic red BOGO has been printed on top of a white T-shirt. The technique was prominently featured in his Spring/Summer 1996 show and the brand is still featuring the technique pretty heavily in its collections to this day despite Margiela stepping away from it back in 2009, so it certainly makes sense. Trompe l’oeil certainly isn’t something exclusively used by Margiela. Plenty of designers have played with the idea in collections over the years.  But ultimately, this is a clever way to present a BOGO that feels genuinely connected to the collaborator beyond just incorporating its logo. It's much better than the mockups that simply placed the numbers logo found on Margiela tags inside of a BOGO or surrounded the marking with Margiela's signature four white stitches.

If locking up your bike for the night wasn’t stressful enough, now you can lock it up using something just as desirable as the bike itself to really tempt the thieves. This white bike lock features Supreme and MM6 co-branding. Obviously, you can use it for its true purpose, as a lock. But we already know some people are going to style this as a necklace, belt, or a crossbody strap as seen in the official lookbook. MM6 has actually released its own bike lock necklaces in the past, like this one, which is likely how this accessory came to be. I guess if you can get dual use out of it as some jewelry and bike lock, you can justify the rumored $268 retail price.

This is one of those coats that can’t help but make you scream, “DO YOU SEE THIS COAT,” like Ye in an airport terminal back in 2015. We can’t find an exact reference for this patchwork faux fur coat, but it’s no secret that Martin Margiela loved repurposing items with his designs. The brand has also always utilized fur in various ways. Remember these pony hair high tops Ye wore during the Yeezus tour? What about this fur coat from Margiela’s Fall/Winter 2003 collection as creative director of Hermes? Maison Margiela has also released patchwork fur coats of its own in the past, but none are an exact copy of what we have seen cooked up with Supreme. The closest is this rabbit fur patched poncho. Don't worry. This coat is faux fur. Maison Margiela has been fur free since 2018. Only ethical outerwear over here.