Martin Margiela

Martin Margiela, Born in Louvain, Belgium on April 9th, 1957. Following the completion of his studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Art in Antwerp, Belgium, 22 years later, the fashion designer then decided to become a freelance fashion stylist.

In 1982, Martin Margiela then moved to Paris in order to work for big French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier. He decided to work there as a design assistant for him up until the year of 1987. Martin Margiela then chose to found a company together with Jenny Meirens, and a year later, they were finally ready to present their first womens ready-to-wear collection in the city of Paris.

In 1989, Martin Margiela then decided to open a salon bearing his own name and decided to show his first collection there, which gained some widespread attention. Margiela sent the models down a catwalk covered in fabric, wearing socks which were saturated with red paint, which consequently left a trail of red footprints behind them. Margiela's clothes were also slashed and faded, with exposed linings and frayed edges. Many of the clothes looked destroyed and Margiela quickly earned himself the label of a "deconstructionist". He is however, a very highly skilled tailor who pays some great attention to detail. Martin Margiela's raw-edged seams are very well-finished and his jackets from which the sleeves have been ripped out, are always made in the most beautiful way. Margiela truly likes the idea of juxtapositions - fragility with hardness, structured shapes with lots of softness - and this is reflected in the wide range of fabrics that he makes use of, such as recycled flea market finds of antique tulle mixed together with some very floral kinds of patchwork. Martin Margiela has also made some dresses from some plastic bags and cellotape. His shredding of existing clothes gives him the possibility to create some very new ones. He often attempts to make use of a palette of colours such as red, black and white.

In 1990, Martin Margiela presented some garments which were made from lining material with some seams on the outside. A year following that, he used some old 1950's ball gowns overdyed in grey worn with old jeans. In 1992, he made some aprons and tops from old headscarves, and in 1993 Margiela's Spring/Summer collection reconstructed some stage costumes whilst his Autumn/Winter collection used some cut-up costumes from the 1940's.

In 1997, Martin Margiela had his first solo exhibition shown in Rotterdam, as well as an exhibition presented in Paris showing jointly with the Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo of Commes des Garçons, also very well known for her deconstructionist kinds of clothing.

During that same year, the house of Hermes hired Margiela as designer and he has since brought his unorthodox womenswear into the accessories and leather goods house. He has proved himself to be very successful in this position, and has turned the house of Hermes into a name to be very much reckoned with in women's fashion.

As the 21st century begins, Martin Margiela is still one of the most successful and controversial designers existing in the fashion world. He is a very anti-publicity kind of designer and does not allow himself to be photographed easily. For a 2001 spread for Vogue magazine, his whole design team was photographed but he was represented only by an empty chair.

Find fashion by Martin Margiela @ the following eshop: