grethen house: 2008

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Lesson: Martin Margiela

Martin Margiela
From Wikipedia
Martin Margiela (born April 9, 1957 in Leuven, Belgium) is a Belgian fashion designer. He studied at Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts along with the legendary avantgarde fashion collective the Antwerp Six. Martin Margiela was only temporarily associated with the group before he retired and was replaced by Martina Yee. Many still consider him to be the "7th" member of the collective.
After graduation in 1980 he worked as a freelance designer for five years. Between 1985 and 1987 he worked for Jean Paul Gaultier, before showing his first collection under his own label in 1988. In 1997 he became, despite his non-traditional design, the chief designer of Hermés women's line.
During the 1980s, the Japanese avantgardists, with Rei Kawakubo (Comme des Garcons), had turned the fashion scene upside-down with their eccentric and ground-breaking designs. Martin Margiela and the Antwerp Six would carry on the work, revolting against the luxurious fashion world with garments of oversized proportions such as long arms, and with linings, seams and hems on the outside. The concept of deconstruction, also embraced by the aforementioned Rei Kawakubo, is important for the understanding of Martin Margiela's fashion statement. Mr Margiela famously redesigns by hand objects such as old wigs, canvases and silk scarves into couture garments.
Throughout his career, Martin Margiela has maintained an extremely low profile. He has never had his picture taken and remains backstage after his shows. All media contact is dealt with via fax. Maison Martin Margiela’s ultradiscreet trademark consists of a piece of cloth with the numbers 0-23 (see table below). The badge is attached to the inside with its four little white pick stitches, exposed to the outside on unlined garments.
0. Garments redesigned by hand for women
1. Women's collection
4. Wardrobe for women
8. Sunglasses
10. Men's collection
14. Wardrobe for men
0 + 10. Garments redesigned by hand for men
11. Accessories for men and women
13. Other objects and magazines
22. Shoes for men and women MM6. Garments for men
The Maison Martin Margiela flagship store is located in 1-9 Bruton place, London. Margiela has a store in the West Village in New York City and also sells at Barneys New York, Scoop NYC, Bergdorf Goodman and in Laguna Beach, California at Anastasia Boutique. In his stores, salespeople wear white lab coats.

*** P.S. The Grethen House has carried Martin Margiela for almost 20 years!***