I have been meaning to comment on this for some time, but I have quite a big pile of blog drafts piling up, which I am hoping to clear by the end of the holidays.
So, Martin Margiela has left the house he founded. Maison Martin Margiela was founded in 1988, and since 2002 it has been majority owned by Diesel, the Italian group which also owns Viktor & Rolf, and of course the denim brand Diesel. I won’t go on too much about the history and the acquisition, and if you are interested you can read all about it in this great article from the New York Times, but I will say that in the time that Diesel took part ownership of Maison Martin Margiela, their sales went from €15 million to €70 million.
Maison Martin Margiela has been quite an important brand for me, particularly when I am lecturing to fashion students (one of my many fashion-related jobs.) This was the brand that helped me define the level of my students. If they all knew the brand, I knew it was going to be a good group. If 30% knew the brand, I knew there would be a few strong ones leading the rest. If 10% or less had heard of Margiela, I knew I was in trouble.
Anyway, I am sure not all of my readers are familiar with Maison Martin Margiela, so I am going to do a little facts list. It is by no means exhaustive, I am going by memory (so feel free to correct any mistakes people) and I am not a Margiela expert, but here we go.
FACT 1: He is from Belgium, and considered to be the “seventh” member of the Antwerp Six. The Antwerp Six were six Belgium fashion designers that graduated from Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts (a super prestigious fashion design school) in the 80s, and then proceeded to drive to London in a van to show off their wares. That was their big breakthrough. The Antwerp Six is Walter Van Beirendonck, Ann Demeulemeester, Dries van Noten, Dirk Van Saene, Dirk Bikkembergs, and Marina Yee. Thanks to them, and Margiela, the Belgian fashion designers got a reputation for being quite avant-garde, a reputation they still have.
Some cool Maison Martin Margiela sandal boots.
Toys by Maison Martin Margiela. They love white.
FACT 2: No one sees him. He doesn’t do personal appearances, and he never meets journalists. Even Carine Roitfeld, editor of French Vogue, has never seen him. I thought it was very funny the other day when someone said that he was spotted looking for a house in West Hollywood. That would imply someone has seen him…
Some menswear. I sort of imagine he looks something like the guy in the centre.
FACT 3: He never referred to himself as “I”. It was always “Maison Martin Margiela is doing this…” or “We are doing this…” instead of “I am doing this…”
This was a really famous Aids t-shirt they did. The text was printed straight onto the shirt, so some was on the front, and some was on the inside of the back.
The Aids t-shirt hanging.
FACT 4: His clothes don’t have the brand name on the label, and his shops don’t have the name on the outside (aside from the one in LA.)
Maison Martin Margiela clothing label.
The Hong Kong store.
The Paris store.
The sign above the London store.
FACT 5: He is known for recycling garments.
An outfit made from lots of old pairs of jeans.
FACT 6: He only communicates by fax (although I am not sure if this is still the case, since hardly anyone has a fax machine anymore. Except for my Mom.)
Another couture outfit.
FACT 7: His fashion shows involve a running commentary about the clothing, and all of his staff wear white lab coats.
One of the staff showing a men's vest.
FACT 8: He often costs his garments based on the number of hours spent making them. Which makes a €5000 jacket actually seem reasonably priced. It is really interesting to see the time involved in making a couture garment. Yes, it is expensive, but at least you know that it is because the garment actually takes a lot of time to make.
This picture came from Diane Pernet's A Shaded View On Fashion (another one of my favorite blogs.) She included the following caption: "Travel Jacket: 53 hours to construct/5330 Euros The jacket is cut from a zipped nylon travel garment bag. What I loved was the breakdown: 'The hours of work necessary for the creation in question includes: the preparation, the finishing and the quality control but exclude the research of raw material, technical control, necessary treatment (cleaning, softening, dying, etc.) and the fittings. Travel Jacket - February. ' "
Here are a few more of his garments.
Great Shoulders.
The famous wig jacket.
Some of the store's shelving.
And look at how cool his landing page is.
Anyway, he has left the company, and Renzo Rosso, the creator of Diesel, has decided not to replace him. Apparently the creative team of 20 something people are strong enough to continue designing without the need of a creative director. This is a very interesting move, and I think it is the right idea.
Replacing a Creative Director, especially the founder of the brand, is very difficult. There have been a lot of problems with Gianfranco Ferre, Emanuel Ungaro, and Versace, all of which have suffered as brands since their namesake founder has left. There has been a lot of speculation in the news lately about what will happen with Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, and Oscar de la Renta, because they all have creative directors in their seventies. Chanel has been quoted as saying “Karl Lagerfeld is the creative director of Chanel and enjoys a long-term contract which is absolutely not put into question. His succession is not on the agenda,” but that is just not credible, they must have some sort of plan in place, because lets face it, at 76, chances are he won’t be able to continue in his role for much longer. I won’t even begin to express the fear in my heart about the succession of Karl Lagerfeld, there is simply no one who can replace him.
With regards to Maison Martin Margiela, we can now only wait to see what happens. Critics have complained that the collections have been lacking for several seasons, apparently since he unofficially left the brand. But I agree that a replacement may only make things worse. I also believe that if this does work, Renzo Rosso will be setting a precedent, and many others will follow. If you can’t replace a great Creative Director, then don’t.
Sorry to anyone whose photo I didn’t credit. Most images came from www.martinmargiela.com and www.style.com but if I used your image without proper credit, please get in touch and I will remove it or credit it.
