Revolutionary Martin Margiela: fashion designer 6+

13/03/2018

In the early 80s Belgian fashion became world famous thanks to the Antwerp Six. Although the Belgian designer Martin Margiela was not one of the select Six, he is often associated with them. He is certainly just as talented in his work and he continues to have an influence. Indeed, an extensive summary exhibition of Margiela's creations is currently running in the Paris fashion museum, Palais Galliera, until mid July 2018 focusing on his own fashion label from 1988, Maison Martin Margiela. The exhibition features 130 silhouettes drawn by the man himself and fashion show videos. Meanwhile, starting on 22 March, the Musée des Arts décoratifs (Museum of Decorative Arts) will highlight his time at Hermès, namely the twelve collections that he designed for this label between 1997 and 2003.

Martin Margiela is known to be revolutionary. He rebelled against the classic fashion labels. Conventions went out of the window. Indeed, he often worked with recycled and recovered materials, with second-hand items, with 'real' women rather than models and always remained anonymous and mysterious: leaving the clothes to speak for themselves. You can recognise them by their plain label, with no sign of a flashy brand, attached with four visible stitches. His great desire for anonymity lives on as he refuses to come to the forefront. He has never advertised, nor appeared on the catwalk after his shows and he has seldom featured in the press.