Maison Margiela * The Early Years
Decoding the early years of the genius white label from the 1980s to 2000s.
I’m honestly surprised it took me as long as it did to write about Maison Margiela. If someone was first getting into high-end archive fashion, one of the first few labels they’d probably stumble across would be Margiela or it’s sublabel MM6. What I’m saying is, I love Margiela and the mystery behind it. I could go on for days and nights talking about the art behind it and how it truly is one of the best labels out there when it comes to true fashion.
Many people don’t realize Martin Margiela’s impact on the world of fashion and how his work has been regarded as actual art pieces. He truly made a name for himself in the scene as it was not just the clothing that was revolutionary—it was the very ethos of his style that elevated it to a realm of genius, mystery, and profound influence.
His view on clothing and how he could reshape items and take from sources in the fashion world before him and shift it to create his own piece that would ultimately go down as grails and modern art pieces. Many important essential events and collections have emerged since the brand’s creation in 1989, and after that one show, the rest was history.
Early Emergence (Subversion of Norms & Deconstruct)
Martin Margiela’s fashion trajectory began with his tenure under Jean Paul Gaultier from 1984 to 1987 where he sharpened his skills and developed an eye for the non-traditional. Margiela, who had already graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, joined Gaultier’s atelier to sharpen his skills and gain exposure to the inner workings of a major fashion house and with Gaultier having subversive ideas and a sharp/keen eye for detail made him one of the best and most ideal mentors for the young Margiela.
Working under Gaultier allowed Margiela to hone his own vision of what fashion could be and in a mid 1989, he would present his first collection ; The Spring Summer 1989 Debut.
When Martin Margiela launched his eponymous label in 1989, the fashion world was dominated by opulence and excess—a world away from his austere, deconstructed aesthetic.
Taking place at Cafe De La Gare in Paris, this debut was seen as game changing and set a new paradigm for the fashion world. Margiela would showcase things never seen before literally pulling apart garments and reconfiguring them in ways that were both disruptive and poetic.
The very fabric of his work was anti-commercial.
The raw hems, inside-out seams, and garments made from repurposed textiles became trademarks for Margiela’s style later down the line and his work was seen as an example of “anti-fashion” and in the late 80s - mid 90s, the world has never seen anything like it before and there are so many details I can talk about from this collection as it felt like everything was on the table. The show was said to be split into multiple different sections based on palette layout, from white to red to black and then to the full ensemble. It also featured a soundtrack which was just a beautiful mixture of rock tunes from the Rolling Stones, Iggy Pop or the Velvet Underground’s “Guess I’m Falling in Love.”
Obviously what catches the eye is the mask on the models. This was an idea incorporated by Margiela himself so he could get the audience to focus more on the clothing featured and not the models themselves. He would also have his models walk through various amounts of different colored paints to introduce the Tabi Boot which would quickly became one of the most iconic and enduring symbols of the brand’s avant-garde ethos.
In the mind of Martin Margiela, he’d initially feature no branding or tags on his clothes yet would later introduce the eminent plain white tag with four stitches at each corner ; Originally loosely done so they could be easily removed if you wanted an unbranded garment. It was a symbol of the brand’s rejection of overt commercialization and the small subtle yet impactful details Margiela emphasized on his clothing.
The Tabi Boot draws inspiration from traditional Japanese Tabi socks, which have a split-toe design and are typically worn with sandals. Martin Margiela would show his studies with combined historical reference and modern, conceptual design, making a statement about fashion’s ability to blend cultures and time periods. The Tabi boot was immediately striking because of its distinctive toe separation, which gave models an otherworldly, alien-like stride as they walked down the runway.
The Tabis weren’t the only thing people would obsess over and the craft of the collection in general opened eyes. Margiela reworked vintage pieces and fabrics, giving them new life and his use of textiles like repurposed gloves sewn together to form a jacket or dresses made from fragments of old garments showed his commitment to rethinking fashion’s relationship with materiality. This idea of transformation is what set Margiela apart as an innovator. He would also be known for his heavy usage of Trompe L’oeil being used on the famous Tattoo Top from the 89’ collection.
I can honestly ramble about this collection for days because there is so much thought, detail, and care put into it from Margiela. It opened the doors for a new wave of designers who would explore deconstruction, sustainability, and intellectualism in fashion and even in the decades since, Margiela’s debut remains a touchstone for avant-garde fashion.
These early years would continue to be great and several collections established the house’s avant-garde reputation. Margiela would continue to develop his craft and the public eye wondered who he was and how he did it. The late 1980s and early 1990s would be essential in defining Margiela’s vision of transformation, and subversion of fashion norms.
His Spring Summer 1990 Collection that would expand on Margiela’s view of anti fashion and he continued to experiment with runways and presentation. The collection was held in an unconventional Parisian playground, where models walked the runway alongside children playing in the background, blurring the lines between fashion spectacle and everyday life. Margiela believed since the show took place on a playground, why not let children get free front row seats. He would combine the then current fashion scene, the playful youth, his usage of aged fabrics and his development of his deconstructed aesthetic, with garments looking unfinished and distressed.
His Autumn/Winter 1992 Oversized Collection explored silhouette experimentation. The garments showcased expressed exaggerated oversized designs that would distort human proportion. Exaggerated oversized tailoring was a very key focus of this collection and it recontextualized the human form as sculptural and abstract. The oversized collection was a direct response to the industry's obsession with perfectly fitted clothing as the collection explored how clothing transforms the human form, emphasizing distortion over harmony, abstraction over symmetry, and pushing the boundaries of how a garment could interact with the body.
His Spring Summer 1997 Replica “Stockman” Collection introduced his Replica concept. This collection consisted of garments reproduced from various historical or culturally significant pieces, and Margiela included precise labels indicating their original source. The idea was to honor the history of fashion by reconstructing and recontextualizing pieces and garments from the past as a way to pay homage. Margiela draped fabric directly over Stockman tailor’s forms, allowing the torso shape to become part of the clothing. THE BODY IS THE DRESS. Doing this process, Margiela transformed the process of making clothes into the clothes themselves, suggesting that fashion was as much about the craft as the finished product.
His early presentations defied convention by hosting them in unconventional locations, creating an air of exclusivity and he would continue to use his diverse style and execution of projects to get across his ideal views in fashion.
In 1997, Margiela would debut MM6 —the more casual diffusion line counterpart that targets the contemporary fashion market approach to Maison Margiela's luxurious ethos— The same year, Maison Margiela also introduced the preeminent white label with numbers to indicate which product line a garment belongs to with the numbers ranging from 0 - 23.
In 1999, he would premier the 'Margiela Gats'—that would do irreversible damage to the fashion world— under the Artisanal line, the shoes that would serve as another example of Margiela’s love for subverting traditional ideas of luxury by turning an essential shoe from the past into a high end fashion item as this specific Margiela model was based off of the classic Bundeswehr German Army Trainer shoe with new improvements such as the hand-painted midsoles, the embossed tongue with MM branding and a helpful info card, telling those to "Feel free to add your own graffiti"
Luxury fashion enthusiasts appreciated the simplicity, craftsmanship, and thoughtful homage behind the design and it went down as one of the brands most recognizable pieces and most popular.
They were an example of stealth wealth, the act of having everyday looking clothes that are actually $900, but who would know right?
This early period also saw Margiela’s emphasis on his anonymity, both personal and professional. Margiela rejected the cult of personality that surrounded many of his contemporaries, like John Galliano and Karl Lagerfeld. His models, too, were often faceless, their features obscured by masks or fabric, which further blurred the line between subject and object, designer and garment. Margiela's refusal to place himself at the center of his brand was a direct critique of the increasing commodification of fashion designers as celebrities. This made the idea and mystery behind the label and his work all the more engrossing, as people always questioned who was behind these concepts and creativity.
Directional Shift (Commercial Tensions and Ethos)
As the 2000s progressed, the fashion industry underwent significant shifts. The rise of fast fashion, the increased commercialization of luxury brands, and the expansion of the global consumer base created new pressures. For Margiela, this period was defined by a tension between maintaining his brand’s conceptual identity and the increasing demands of a commercial fashion house. His Spring Summer 2003 collection showed the usage of short sleeves, sunglasses, and dark colors. The minimalism featured in the collection reflected the craft and ethos behind Margiela and how bold graphics weren’t used yet. Cut-outs, transparency, and oversized tailoring would also continue to be featured this season. The Spring Summer 2004 collection was also go down as a classic runway for the label as it featured models wearing heavy weirdly shaped garments with giant wigs covering their faces. Models were seen wearing layers on layers with specific skirts and shirts tied around them, making them look confined in certain items.
Despite the industry’s commodifying forces, Margiela’s mystique only deepened. His shows continued to reject the glamor and spectacle of contemporary fashion weeks, preferring conceptual presentations that felt more akin to art installations than runway shows. The label never needed large bold graphics or over-commercialization, as they stuck to craft, cut and sewn items, volume and proportions, which truly hardened down the creative and “ahead of time” nature Margiela was known for.
Spring/Summer 2006 presented elongated silhouettes, with sleeves and pants stretched to impossible lengths and made with alternate experimental materials, making it seem as if these garments weren’t even made for humans to begin with, or to even wear. These surreal distortions underscored Margiela’s ongoing interest in how fashion manipulates the human body and identity, and in the presentation of an X-ray framed screen style Margiela was able to shack the scene again. The Fall Winter 2006 collection also featured a dark vibrant neon approach to Margiela’s well known neutral color palette they had established years prior. Large coats, alternate fabrics, leather, and nothing but color took the show that season and solidified diversity in Margiela’s work.
By the time of his Spring/Summer 2009 collection, which celebrated the brand’s 20th anniversary, it was clear that Margiela’s influence had transcended fashion. His work had become a form of commentary on the industry itself, a meta-analysis of the act of creation, consumption, and identity. He would also showcase “Maison Martin Margiela 20 The Exhibition” that was a celebration of 20 years of the label, curated by the Antwerp Fashion Museum, MoMu. The exhibition itself was first open from December 2008 to August 2009 in Antwerp, where Martin Margiela studied fashion to work under those in the field and eventually create his own label
However, this milestone also marked Margiela’s quiet departure from the house he founded. He had always been elusive, but in the years leading up to 2009, his presence within the label had gradually diminished, allowing an anonymous design team to take the helm. Martin Margiela’s official departure from his label in 2009 marked the end of an era for the label due to creative fatigue and disillusionment with the fashion industry's increasing commercial pressures. Many ideas were presented to him that challenged the original vision of artistic freedom and innovation. The legacy he left, however, was unmistakable.
He left behind a brand that had fundamentally redefined the landscape of fashion. By resisting the celebrity designer culture, championing deconstruction, and embracing imperfection, Margiela carved out a space for intellectualism in an industry often preoccupied with spectacle.
Many wondered, can anyone replace him? Who will take up the label’s mantel?
And in 2014, their questions were answered with the arrival of John Galliano, who marked a stark contrast in creative direction from Margiela’s minimalist, deconstructivist legacy. —An era I’ll maybe cover sometime soon—
However, even as the house evolved under new creative direction, Margiela’s influence remained palpable, with subsequent collections continuing to reference his core themes of deconstruction, anonymity, conceptualism and inviting the world to embrace fashion as both art and commentary, as both object and idea.