The number “42” indicating the size, the words “VESTE COTE” (vest coat) and “MANCHE” (sleeve), and the arrows indicating the direction of the fabric mark, this work is a jacket consisting of a sewing pattern (a paper pattern). The information required for cutting the fabric, such as the shape and size of each section of the garment are marked on the pattern, the role of which is to enable the two-dimensional fabric to become three-dimensional. However, Margiela takes the pattern, normally abandoned once the garment has been completed, instead presenting this as the garment itself. This Autumn/Winter 1997 collection was a continuation of the Spring/Summer 1997 collection that featured a jacket inspired by Stockman mannequin (AC9427). And in this collection, the pins and basting thread which are only ever used in the preparatory stage were retained in this jacket and in a number of other looks for the runway show. This design using a paper pattern alludes to the invisible production process, posing the question of what constitutes a “complete” or “incomplete” garment. Margiela, who shows his respect for the handiwork of craftspeople and who interprets, with irony, the ready-made garment industry, subverts the relationship between garment and a paper pattern to question the duality represented by “the paper pattern becoming a garment.”