Maison Martin Margiela, the eponymous Paris-based fashion house known for its rough avant-garde couture, understated branding and mysterious leading man (the Belgian designer almost never makes public appearances and you'd be hard pressed to find a photograph) is the fascinating and inspired subject of a new exhibition at the MoMu Fashion Museum in Antwerp.
Click here to see more from the Martin Margiela exhibition
Maison Martin Margiela, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in October, is at once an illustrious part of the global fashion consciousness and a quirky anomaly proudly distinct from it. It is a brand driven by product and sheer invention rather than hype, fad, or celebrity. Four exposed white stitches attaching a clean label to the inside of each garment, a trademark aesthetic, is the only outward brand insignia, a subtle nod to those in the know.
The new exhibition is less a traditional retrospective than a visual examination of the themes that have underpinned the brand since its inception, from its deconstructivist, subversive design aesthetic to the esoteric numeric labelling, the unusual store fit-outs, the clinical, lab coat-clad sales clerks, and of course the clothes themselves. Even in the absence of a photograph, one gains a solid picture of the designer: a man who, among other things, clearly prefers to let his work do the talking.
ADDRESS
Nationalestraat 28
B-2000 Antwerp
-
Let there be light: a closer look at Prada’s stripped-back S/S 2026 show set‘This is the first time the Fondazione is completely bare, with the light coming in,’ said Raf Simons backstage at Prada’s ‘light, fresh, colourful’ and ‘human’ S/S 2026 men’s show in Milan
-
A Swedish scooter blends Teenage Engineering’s aesthetic with accessible electric mobilityThe EPA1 Scooter is the first product from mobility start-up Vässla, an assured and flexible design shaped in conjunction with TE to assist everyday urban mobility
-
Discover Canadian modernist Daniel Evan White’s pitch-perfect homesCanadian architect Daniel Evan White (1933-2012) had a gift for using the landscape to create extraordinary homes; revisit his story in an article from the Wallpaper* archives (first published in 2011)
-
Maison Margiela A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women’s -
Maison Margiela S/S 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's -
Maison Margiela A/W 2019 Paris Fashion Week Women's -
Maison Margiela S/S 2019 Paris Fashion Week Women'sJohn Galliano’s deconstructed take on Gen Z gender fluidity
-
Lanvin at Paris Fashion Week Men’s S/S 2019 -
Dior Men at Paris Fashion Week Men’s S/S 2019Kim Jones unveils his inaugural debut show for the maison
-
Maison Margiela S/S 2018John Galliano presents a masterful travel-inspired collection, complete with new codes for the maison's mile-high club
-
Maison Margiela A/W 2017
