Maison Margiela

Fashion House

Maison Margiela is a fashion house founded by the Limbourg-born designer, Martin Margiela. Born in 1959, Margiela studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, and was one of the first wave of talent to emerge from the city in the early eighties, graduating a year after a group of designers known as the Antwerp Six, whom he is often closely associated with. In 1984, he moved to Paris to work for Jean Paul Gaultier. He went on to found his own enterprise, Maison Martin Margiela, in 1989, showing his first womenswear collection for Spring/Summer 1989.

Margiela staged his first collections in unusual locations such as an abandoned metro or a circus tent. The fashion press labelled his fashion mood 'deconstruction' – an attempt to disclose the process and craft of making clothes. Martin Margiela eschewed the cult of personality that surrounds many designers and instead fostered a cult of anonymity, a further deconstruction of the conventions of the fashion industry.

In December 2009, it was announced that Martin Margiela had left the brand that he had created, with the in house design team continuing to create collections. In 2014, John Galliano, formerly creative director of Christian Dior, was appointed as creative director for the Margiela house. To reflect the evolution of the brand, its name was changed to simply Maison Margiela.

Maison Margiela is a fashion house founded by the Limbourg-born designer, Martin Margiela. Born in 1959, Margiela studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, and was one of the first wave of talent to emerge from the city in the early eighties, graduating a year after a group of designers known as the Antwerp Six, whom he is often closely associated with. In 1984, he moved to Paris to work for Jean Paul Gaultier. He went on to found his own enterprise, Maison Martin Margiela, in 1989, showing his first womenswear collection for Spring/Summer 1989.

Margiela staged his first collections in unusual locations such as an abandoned metro or a circus tent. The fashion press labelled his fashion mood 'deconstruction' – an attempt to disclose the process and craft of making clothes. Martin Margiela eschewed the cult of personality that surrounds many designers and instead fostered a cult of anonymity, a further deconstruction of the conventions of the fashion industry.

In December 2009, it was announced that Martin Margiela had left the brand that he had created, with the in house design team continuing to create collections. In 2014, John Galliano, formerly creative director of Christian Dior, was appointed as creative director for the Margiela house. To reflect the evolution of the brand, its name was changed to simply Maison Margiela.

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