Belgian designer Martin Margiela (b. 1957) — whose life, career, and designs for handbags, clothing and shoes have become cult-collector obsessions — pushed those who attended his shows outside their comfort zones. In the years following the 1988 debut of Maison Martin Margiela, he toyed with creative and aesthetic paradoxes that persist in fashion today.
Consider the Spring/Summer 2001 shirt patchworked from vintage clothing labels, or his famous corset dresses made from tailoring dummies, from his Fall/Winter 1997 line. Or his oversize collection for Fall/Winter 2000. In 1992, Margiela told Dépêche Mode magazine, “My clothes appeal to women of a certain mindset rather than of a specific age or physique.”
Born in Genk, Belgium, in 1957, Margiela knew he wanted to be a fashion designer after catching glimpses of Parisian fashion on TV as a child. Although his parents discouraged this career choice as an oddly funny aspiration, Margiela enrolled in the fashion program of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. There, he befriended and graduated a year ahead of the Antwerp Six — the acclaimed group of Belgian fashion designers comprising Dries Van Noten, Walter Van Beirendonck, Ann Demeulemeester, Marina Yee, Dirk Bikkembergs and Dirk Van Saene.
Like many of his contemporaries in the 1980s, Margiela understood Paris fashion but felt a deep resonance with the deconstructed beauty espoused by Japanese designers Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo, of Comme des Garçons. Margiela’s fascination with Japan influenced many of his earliest collections and designs, from a dress pieced together from broken plates to his iconic Tabi boots, inspired by the split-toe Japanese worker’s shoe, which dates back to the 15th century.
Margiela decided to launch his own line while working for renowned Paris designer Jean Paul Gaultier. With Belgian designer Jenny Meirens, Margiela established Maison Martin Margiela in the French capital in 1988.
Margiela’s debut show was nothing short of spectacular. Set in a packed Café de la Gare in the still-seedy Marais district, it was also scandalous to the Parisian fashion set of the time. The designer tore up the conventions of contemporary couture presentations, most notably having his models, plucked from the streets and wearing ink-blotted Tabis, wend their way through the crowd.
The show redefined the concept of the runway in a way that would later inspire such designers as Alexander McQueen and Demna Gvasalia.
While the notoriously private designer retired from fashion in 2009, for many Maison Martin Margiela collectors, his pieces capture the irreverence of the postwar, post-punk late 1980s and ’90s. Katy Rodriguez, cofounder of the cult vintage fashion shop Resurrection, is among those who felt a connection to Margiela’s clothing in the subliminal challenges it posed to the time’s beauty norms.
“Growing up in San Francisco and coming out of the end of punk rock, not wanting to be objectified, not wanting to be seen as a sexual object, not wanting your value to be just because you’re pretty — all those clothes played into all of that,” she says. “It really was a reflection of the kind of world the young people I knew at the time wanted to live in.”
John Galliano was named creative director at the house in 2014 and it rebranded as Maison Margiela in 2015.
Find vintage Maison Martin Margiela boots, evening dresses, jackets and more on 1stDibs.
Maison Martin Margiela Melange Sweater With Vertical Zippers At Waist 1997
By Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Resurrection Vintage is excited to present a vintage Maison Martin Margiela melange oversized sweater from the Spring 1997 collection. This sweater features a soft chunky knit body, ...
Maison Martin Margiela Mauve Deconstructed Sweater With High Neck 2001
By Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Resurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Maison Martin Margiela mauve deconstructed or "destroyed" knit sweater, featuring a folding high neck collar, a sleeveless body, in...
Maison Martin Margiela White Cardigan With Oversized Crewneck Ss 2001
By Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Resurrection Vintage is thrilled to offer a vintage Maison Martin Margiela white cardigan with an oversized crewneck from the spring 2001 collection, featuring front buttons down the...
Yohji Yamamoto White Cotton High-Low Sweater With Cutout Ss 2001
By Yohji Yamamoto Y's
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Resurrection is excited to offer a vintage Yohji Yamamoto lightweight white high-low sweater with a cutout from the spring 2001 collection, featuring a straight neckline, three-quart...
Maison Martin Margiela Black Oversized V Neck Sweater Ss 2000
By Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Resurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Maison Martin Margiela black oversized sweater from the spring 2000 collection, which focused on overblown proportions. The sweater...
Maison Martin Margiela Navy Blue Distressed High Neck Pullover Sweater 2000
By Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Resurrection Vintage is thrilled to present a vintage Maison Martin Margiela navy blue distressed high neck pullover sweater from the 2000 collection, featuring a rolled neck, decora...
MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA FW 08 Heavy Cable-Knit Sweater
By Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Milano, MILANO
Fall/Winter 2008 Heavy cable-knit sweater from Maison Martin Margiela Shawl collar 100% wool No size tag; fits like a L
Martin Margiela Fall/Winter 2006 Knitted Cream Turtleneck Sweater
By Martin Margiella, Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Caserta, IT
- Designed by Martin Margiela - Fall Winter 2006 - Knitted Cream Sweater - High neckline with a button closure - Very good condition - Made in Italy - Size: M for men; may also fit w...
Maison Martin Margiela Miss Deanna Trompe L'oeil Lurex Knit Pullover FW1999
By Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Chicago, IL
When Belgian former fashion designer Martin Margiela debuted gold Lurex knits while French luxury-goods Hermes Womenswear Artistic Director, simultaneously for F/W 1999 he introduced at his eponymous Paris-based Maison Martin Margiela a collection featuring 1970s-inspired Lurex-accented sweaters and oversized loose clothes intended for either women or men. Including a distinct printed tag stitched into a seam by Italian knitwear innovator Miss Deanna, who created many iconic knits under Margiela's artistic direction, this Margiela sparkly finely-knit long-sleeve pullover in a Lurex and viscose stretch blend is a minimalist unisex design with narrow ribbed trim at the crewneck, wrists and hem. Its "Made In Italy" size 44 with a 15.5-inch shoulder-line is without darts and drapes like a one-size-fits-most soft T-shirt. Presenting the optical illusion of a dark tube top and detached sleeves worn underneath, the lightweight sweater was knit from pale-gold, grey and blue yarns into a ombre pattern like a spray-painted gradient or dip-dyed fabric. Yet the additional glittery orange-tone metallic thread (difficult to photograph due to reflections) woven throughout proves that it was not painted or dyed, but an experimental complex knitwear manufacturing technique by Miss Deanna. While we have sold Lurex distorted sweaters by Miss Deanna from the F/W 1999 collection with matching label text formatting and a blank Margiela brand label, none of them included a conceptual trompe-l'oeil of another garment in reference to earlier collections, which suggests that this is among a Margiela-commissioned one-off comparable to her initial Artisanal knits. Later for Margiela's first diffusion collections, Miss Deanna mass-produced knits for Line 6, which were identified by the house's new brand label with a circled numeral among the Line numbers from 0 to 23. That more affordable Line evolved into MM6. Comparatively, Margiela's Fall 1999 Artisanale Line 0 collection, which was instead produced by his Parisian team, explored the textural effects of hand-painting fabrics, such as the unisex T-shirts that were striped or obscured with thick silver paint. Earlier in the 1990s, Margiela had reproduced some vintage...
Martin Margiela A/W 1998 Cotton Grey Zipped Giant Turtleneck Sweater
By Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Caserta, IT
- Designed by Martin Margiela - Fall Winter 1998 Collection - Grey Cotton Giant Turtleneck - Double zip on the same line - Striped surface - Giant neckline - Made in Italy - Very goo...
MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA FW 90 Extremely rare slashed felted long sleeves top
By Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Milano, MILANO
Extremely rare Fall Winter 1990 slashed felted long sleeves top by Maison Martin Margiela 72% wool 28% polyamide
20th Century Maison Martin Margiela Blank Label Silk Knit Sweater
By Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Laguna Beach, CA
Seafoam silk knit crewneck sweater with ribbed sleeves and bottom cuffs from the MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA Artisanal Collection. New with Tags.
In a recently released film, the elusive Belgian designer reflects on his time in the fashion world and his avant-garde creations, which have become coveted collector items.
This design from the Spring 2014 collection puts a cheeky twist on outerwear.
