Gabardine pleat-front trousers, smoking jackets, red overcoats, snake-skin jackets, puffy sleeves in the shape of fins, a polo-neck in shiny brown leather- the latest collection by label Maison Martin Margiela is creative and cosy.

With her hair tied back nonchalantly in a chignon at the nape of her neck, a porcelain complexion and vampy red lips, the Margiela woman has a quirky sophistication which is both simple and polished: always a paradox!