Maison Margiela

Maison Martin Margiela was founded in Paris in 1988 by Martin Margiela and Jenny Meirens. After graduating the Royal Academy of Arts in Antwerp, Margiela spent three years as Jean Paul Gaultier's assistant before Meirens approached him to establish a house together. Gaultier, who has called him the best assistant he ever had, said of him "When I met him and saw his work I told him immediately that he was ready for his own line and that he didn't need an apprenticeship." The house presented its first collection in the summer of 1988 at Café de la Gare in Paris, and its Spring/Summer 1990 show on a children's playground in the 20th arrondissement, where neighbourhood children sat in the front row and models walked an uneven rocky surface, set a new precedent for what a fashion show could be. In a Paris dominated by opulence, exclusivity, maximalism and the cult of the supermodel, Margiela did the opposite: models wore face masks so that attention fell entirely on the clothes, the house refused to engage with the press, every member of staff wore a white lab coat to reject hierarchy, and the plain white label replaced the branded logo entirely. His artisanal line produced garments that operated as much as art objects as clothing: vests constructed from broken ceramic plates and repurposed gloves, a dress from advertising poster paper, sweaters knitted from old socks, a top made from a supermarket plastic shopping bag. Among his most recognisable designs is the Tabi boot, which refers to the Japanese split-toe sock, first shown in 1988. Margiela sold a majority stake to Renzo Rosso of the OTB Group in 2002 and resigned as creative director in 2009, after which an anonymous design team ran the house until John Galliano was appointed creative director in 2014, bringing his own theatrical vision to the Artisanal line and the house's couture collections over a ten-year tenure. Glenn Martens was appointed his successor in January 2025.