PARIS, Jul 4, 2003/ FW/ --- After a week of sweltering heat, pushy security, and fleeting runway shows, it was a delight to sit back on a draped sofa in Martin Margiela's white washed brick Paris workshop, and have the models come right up to you.

It was also a stroke of genius for the Belgian designer to present his menswear collection in a way that you can see it up close, and personal. The artistry then becomes immediately apparent.

Old American jeans were recycled to fashion a sweat shirt, contrasting plaid pants were reworked to form a a new version (split front and back), and satiny vests were reconstructed from the linings of the originals.

For Summer 2004, 70s checks and plaids abound, Panama white cotton suits are sewn of a light transparent fabric, and jeans are painted with a fresh coat of dusty rose atop indigo.

As accessories, nothing could surpass the military style dog tags constructed of old hotel keys, square toe boots in natural leather, and leather strap key rings that hang from the pockets.

The thread of ingenuity that holds it all together is nothing short of recycled art.