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Glenn Martens is the new creative director of Maison Margiela, it has been announced this morning (28 January 2025). Having exited Y/Project after 11 years at the helm this past September, Martens – who for now will retain his role as creative director of Diesel – replaces John Galliano, who left Maison Margiela after a ten-year tenure this past December.
The house said Martens will write ‘the next chapter of the house, building on its unique codes and brand values’, following the critical success of Galliano, who brought a showman’s flair to the avant-garde label (his spellbinding final runway show, staged on the banks of the River Seine, was cinematic in its conjuring of series of figures that looked straight from a Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec painting).
Glenn Martens is Maison Margiela’s new creative director
A look from John Galliano’s final runway show for Maison Margiela, staged in January 2024
Martens was born in Bruges, Belgium, and studied at the prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. He is best known for his deconstructed and distressed denim, alongside clever plays on wardrobe archetypes, which might be warped or twisted in their proportions. At Diesel, he has brought new energy to the Italian denim-wear label, often staging vast runway shows that are open to the public.
‘I have worked with Glenn for years, I have witnessed his talent, and I know what he is capable of,’ OTB chairman Renzo Rosso said this morning (the OTB group is a fashion conglomerate that owns Maison Margiela, alongside Diesel and a slew of other brands). ‘After Martin [Margiela], who gave life to the maison and its unique Artisanal line, and John, who made it the most cutting-edge couture house in the world, I am proud to have a third couturier at its helm. Glenn, who studied at Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts like Martin, has already shown his prowess and his vision in couture.’
Diesel’s A/W 2023. For now, Martens will remain creative director of the brand
Maison Margiela was founded by the house’s namesake, the Belgium designer Martin Margiela, in 1988. A riposte to the high-wattage glamour of the decade, Martin Margiela was an early proponent of deconstruction, the act of taking apart a garment and reconstructing it in new ways, as well as working with found objects. Memorable pieces include the split-toe ‘Tabi’ boot, which drew on traditional Japanese footwear; other garments were constructed from wigs, broken plates, or recalled the form of a dressmaker’s mannequin.
‘I feel extremely honoured to join the amazing Maison Margiela, a truly unique house that has been inspiring the world for decades. And I thank Renzo for the trust he is putting in me,’ said Martens this morning.
With no word as yet as to when his first show will take place, Martens joins a number of new arrivals at major labels, including Matthieu Blazy at Chanel, Sarah Burton at Givenchy, and Haider Ackermann at Tom Ford.