Martin Margiela: Innovative and Ingenious
By Boyd Davis
Photo below: Book cover "Maison Martin Margiela".
"His creations are known for their mixture of innovation and wearability, for his ingenious
solutions to how a garment's essential elements can be re-imagined," says a review of the book
Maison Martin Margiela.
This sums up Martin Margiela's place in fashion history.
Born in Belgium(1959), Martin Margiela studied at the Antwerpen's Fine Arts School(1980) and was
a freelance designer for 5 years after graduation.
He worked for Jean Paul Gaultier for two years
(1985-87) and decided to strike out on his own, showing his first collection under his own label
in 1988.
Considered by many as part of the new avant-garde designers, Martin Margiela is a master of
deconstruction and reconstruction of garments.
He can see beyond the garment and the fabric - like
destroying a gown to create a jacket from it, ripping a lot of old socks and making a sweater
from them.
You can call it recycling, but it goes beyond that, because the final product is a
far cry from the original fueled by Martin Margiela's imagination.
He has his pecularities - he never shows himself in the catwalk, and he uses old forms, old mannequins,
and clothes hangers to show his collection.
Behind these eccentrities is a designer beyond fashion,
beyond the fabric and the dress and a man who makes his imagination a reality when it comes
to creating a garment.
|