Maison Margiela
Maison Margiela, formerly Maison Martin Margiela, is a French luxury fashion house founded by Belgian designer Martin Margiela and Jenny Meirens[1] in 1988 and headquartered in Paris.[2] The house produces both haute couture-inspired artisanal collections and ready-to-wear collections, with the former influencing the designs of the latter.[3] Product lines include womenswear, menswear, jewellery, footwear, accessories, leather goods, perfumes[2] and household goods.[4] Known for deconstructive and avant-garde designs with unconventional materials,[2] Maison Margiela has traditionally held live shows in unusual settings, for example empty metro stations[5] and street corners.[6] Models' faces are often obscured[7] by fabric or long hair to direct attention to the clothes and design.[8] Margiela resigned as creative designer in 2009[9] and John Galliano was appointed to the role in 2014.[10]
Formerly
Maison Martin Margiela
- Martin Margiela
- Jenny Meirens
Worldwide
Stefano Rosso (Chairman)
Gaetano Sciuto (CEO)
John Galliano (Creative Director)
History[edit]
Formation and early years[edit]
Maison Margiela was founded by Martin Margiela, a Belgian fashion designer, in 1988. Earlier, Margiela had studied fashion at the Royal Academy of Antwerp,[6] and although he actually graduated a year earlier, in 1979,[4] he is often mistaken for a member of the university's Avant-garde fashion collective the Antwerp Six.[11][8] Among other influences, during the 1980s Margiela and other Belgian designers such as the Antwerp Six were inspired by deconstructive fashions introduced by Japanese avantgardists such as Rei Kawakubo—creator of the label Comme des Garçons.[12] Margiela began utilizing the deconstructive style in the 1980s[13] while a freelance designer in Milan, Italy,[14] and early on his work would often reveal the garments’ structure, for example intentionally exposed linings and seams.[6] In 1984 he became Jean Paul Gaultier’s design assistant in Paris, a role he held until 1987.[2]
In 1988, Martin launched his own self-titled design label Maison Martin Margiela[2] with business partner and fellow designer Jenny Meirens.[6][14] Initially working out of a Paris apartment,[3] they opened their first store in an unmarked white space in Paris,[15] also opening a small studio on 12 Leopoldstraat in Antwerp.[14] New York Magazine wrote that "the designer quickly defined a deconstructed look [with his new label]… Vaguely Dadaist, as if Marcel Duchamp were reincarnated as a fashion designer, Margiela questioned every tenet of fashion and luxury."[15] Vogue would later write that his early ideas "provoked shock and intrigue" in the fashion industry.[2] On the label's garments, simple blank white labels with four white tacks[2] were sewn to signify the brand.[15] Distinct product ranges were given numbers as signifiers, in no particular chronological order.[2]