Few artisans have had such innovative authority over their respective fields of work than Martin Margiela has had over the fashion sphere in the last two decades. As all great things must come to an end, Margiela’s reign at Maison Margiela comes to a conclusion in his farewell ready-to-wear collection of S/S 2009. While most could correctly assume that a designer’s final collection would simply be a rendition of their greatest hits, this assumption would be incorrect for a mastermind like Margiela. The house’s 20th anniversary collection was less of a reminiscent look on the past and more of a reminder of how Margiela’s substantial contributions live on in current fashion. The show is riddled with Martin’s various productions of the famed anonymous model and the classic Margiela shoulder. The former of which has influenced many to sheath the face of their own house’s models and the latter brought about a sharper and broader shoulder to the modern silhouette. Margiela also took the opportunity to modernized one of his more iconic show themes. This can be seen with one of his first ’09 looks being a nod to his theme of trompe l’oeil (trick of the eye) of S/S 1996. This singular look revitalized the technique of the ’96 show and infused it with x-ray radiographic-esque imagery of the models torso. Despite knowing this would be his last show Margiela did not decide to go gently into retirement, he chose to with his last show what he has done his entire career, innovate.