AT SPRING SUMMER 1997 COLLLECTION MARGIELA INTRODUCED THE FEMALE BODY DRESSED IN SLEEVELESS LINEN JACKETS INSPIRED BY A STOCKMAN TAILORING DUMMY. HE DECONSTRUCTED THE WESTERN IDEA OF THE WOMAN AS A ‘LIVING DOLL’, OR THE DOLL AS A MORE PERFECT VERSION OF A WOMAN. BY DRESSING THE ACTUAL, LIVING BODY IN A DUMMY, WHICH ACTS AS A FETISHIZED VERSION OF THE FEMALE BODY, MARTIN MARGIELA SHOWED HOW FOREIGN THE STANDARDIZED DUMMY IS TO THE REAL LIVING BODY.

THE LINEN TOPS WERE NUMBERED AND LETTERED. THE WORDS ‘SEMI COUTURE’ WERE PRINTED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE DUMMY, WHICH SHOULD REMIND US OF THE ANOMYMOUS HANDS THAT ARE INVOLVED IN THE MAKING OF THE GARMENT. THE TAILORING DUMMIES TURNING INTO WAISTCOATS FEATURED AT SPRING SUMMER 1997 AND AUTUMN WINTER 1997 1998.