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McQueen's first collection, entitled "Taxi Driver" was presented on a clothes rail at the Ritz in 1993 – quite different from the large-scale productions McQueen would become known for later in his career. McQueen kickstarted a trend in the denim world, and the low-rise jean (although never as low as McQueen's original design) was a popular style throughout the 1990s and 2000s.

This was the first of a pair of shows focused on overblown proportions applied to wardrobe staples like trenchcoats, men’s shirts, bombers, and slip dresses, all of which were enlarged by 148, 150, or 200 percent. But size wasn’t Margiela’s only concern for Spring ’00: Carefully placed price stickers and electronic security tags commented on the marketing and selling of fashion, as well. What the de-heeled shoes were meant to say is less clear. The collection was served up not on a runway but, commented The New York Times, “on round tabletops in a room that looked set up for a Rotarian dinner.”

Maintaining the status quo has never interested Rei Kawakubo. She upset it with outsized clothes that shrouded the body when she made her Paris debut in 1981, and, more than a decade and a half later, she was pushing buttons again with a Spring 1997 collection titled Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body. Often referred to as the “lumps and bumps” show, it featured tubelike gingham dresses stuffed with lumpen filler that sculpted—some said deformed—a new silhouette. “It’s our job to question convention,” the Japanese designer told Vogue. “If we don’t take risks, then who will?”

Atelier Van Lieshout, Blast Furnace Cabinet 2019