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When the Paris Fashion Week schedule was released last week, there were a handful of notable absences. This included Maison Margiela, which has recently begun a new chapter under Glenn Martens, the Belgian designer formerly of Y/Project (and currently of Diesel, which he designs alongside). Thus far, he has shown two collections: an Artisanal show in July, the house’s equivalent to haute couture, and a ready-to-wear offering this past October. Profiled in the March 2026 issue of Wallpaper* – which is on newsstands now – he said that for the latter he was seeking a feeling of reality that he sees as at the core of the Martin Margiela-founded house.
‘It’s a blessing to me that this house has ready-to-wear – I want people to wear Margiela,’ he said. ‘I want my staff to wear it on the street, and even if [in the show] there’s a bit of a set, or hair and make-up, at its core it’s about reality. To me, that’s very close to Martin [Margiela]’s founding principles – he was really creating clothes that were ready to wear.’
He also said he wanted the show to be ‘democratic’, drafting a local children’s orchestra to provide the soundtrack (an echo of Martin Margiela’s memorable S/S 1990 runway show, which was held in an abandoned playground in Paris’ 20th arrondissement and saw children from the area join models on the runway). This morning (10 February 2026), Martens is taking this one stop further: for A/W 2026, he is opening up the Maison Margiela Dropbox – comprising research for upcoming projects, internal imagery and the house’s archive – in a project titled ‘MaisonMargiela/folders’. He says the ambitious undertaking is ‘a fresh way to experience the work of the maison’, with archival material dating back to the house’s founding in 1988, some on show for the first time.
As part of the project, Maison Margiela has also announced it will show its A/W 2026 ready-to-wear collection in Shanghai, China, as part of the city’s fashion week, on 1 April 2026. In the month that follows, a series of exhibitions across China will explore the various ‘principles’ of the house, which were originally set out by Martin Margiela and co-founder Jenny Meirens. Most notably, anonymity – a defining tenet of Maison Margiela, which will be marked with an exhibition of the house’s masks in Beijing from 7-12 April (Martin Margiela remained anonymous throughout his career; in staff photographs, a seat was often left empty for the namesake designer).
Other exhibitions across the month include ‘Artisanal: Creative Laboratory’ in Shanghai (2-6 April), which will open just after the runway show and feature 48 pieces from the house’s Artisanal line dating from 1989 to 2025; ‘Tabi: Collector’s’ in Chengdu (9-13 April), comprising a series of personal collections of the house’s signature split-toe shoe; and ‘Bianchetto: Atelier Experience’ in Shenzhen (11-12 April), a celebration of the Maison Margiela hallmark of white-painted garments and accessories. At the last, guests will be able to bring their own garments to be transformed by the technique. ‘The core of the brand [is] the ideas, codes, and values that shape both our heritage and our futures,’ says the house.
‘MaisonMargiela/folders’ will be available to browse from today here, though the house says this will be an evolving platform – in the coming months, more will be added, including documentation of the exhibition’s construction. For those in China, the exhibitions are free and open to all – registration will begin on 17 March 2026.
‘MaisonMargiela/folders’ is available to browse here.
