Martin Margiela was born in Louvain, Belgium on April 9th, 1957. After completing his studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Art in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1979, Margiela became a freelance fashion stylist.

In 1982, he moved to Paris to work for Jean-Paul GAULTIER. He worked as a design assistant for this designer, till 1987. He then founded a company Sarl Neuf, together with Jenny Meirens. In 1988, they presented their first womens ready-to-wear collection in Paris.

In 1989, he opened a salon in his own name and showed his first collection, which gained widespread attention. He sent the models down the catwalk which was covered with white fabric, wearing socks saturated with red paint, leaving red footprints. His clothes were slashed and faded, with exposed linings and frayed edges. Many looked destroyed and Margiela quickly earned a deconstructionist label. He is however, a highly skilled tailor who pays great attention to detail. His raw-edged seams are well-finished. His jackets from which the sleeves have been ripped out, are beautifully made. Margiela likes juxtapositions - fragility with hardness, structured shapes with softness - and this is reflected in the wide range of fabrics he uses, such as recycled flea market finds of antique tulle mixed with floral patchwork. He has also made dresses from plastic bags and cellotape. Margiela's shredding of existing clothes enables him to create new ones. He often uses a palette of red, black and white.

In 1990, he presented garments made from lining material with seams on the outside. In 1991 he used old 50's ball gowns overdyed in grey worn with old jeans. In 1992, he made aprons and tops from old headscarves, and in 1993 Margiela's Spring/Summer collection reconstructed stage costumes while his Autumn/Winter collection used cut-up costumes from the 40's.

In 1997, he had his first solo exhibition in Rotterdam, as well as an exhibition in Paris presenting jointly with the Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo of Commes des Garcons, also well known for her deconstruction clothing.

In 1997, Hermes hired him as designer and he has now brought his unorthodox womenswear into that accessories and leather goods house. He has proved to be very successful in this position, and has made Hermes a name to be reckoned with in womens fashion. Click on Hermes to read more about Margiela at Hermes.

As the 21st century begins, Martin Margiela is still one of the most successful and controversial designers in the fashion world. He is very anti-publicity and does not allow himself to be photographed. For a 2001 spread in Vogue, his whole design team was photographed but he was represented only by an empty chair. For the top of our page, we took a very old picture of him at college, and since we understand he has a beard nowaday, we drew one on him. If we get a more up-to-date photograph, we'll put it up.

Spring/Summer 2003

In October 2002, Margiela presented his Spring/Summer 2003 collection at the Paris Fashion Week. This was under his own name, as against his second role as Designer for Hermes.

He was as inventive as ever, giving dress and undress a new intimacy and showed a new sense of elegance and luxury. In this collection Margiela has lightened up and started exploring romance, lace and boudoir drapes. Here are two dresses from the collection.

Fall/Winter 2003

Martin Margiela presented the Fall collection under his own name, during Paris Fashion Week in March 2003.

Two outfits from the show are shown on the right and left.

Margiela/s show proved what fashion buyers and his dedicated customers havwe long known : the designer makes unconventionally beautiful clothes. This season there was a perfectly tailored pinstriped jacket, with a suit sleeve turned into a collar. Lingerie silk was inserted at the hips of a tweed skirt. He created a graceful womanly collection.

Change of Designer

In May 2003, Hermes announced that the Spring/Summer 2004 would be the last designed by Martin Margiela, who was planning to leave to concentrate on his own label. He was replaced by Jean-Paul Gaultier from the Fall/Winter 2004 collection.

Spring/Summer 2004

During Paris Fashion Week in October 2003, Martin Margiela showed his own collection for Spring. A dress from this collection is shown on the left.

His show used huge spotlights on a purely black set and the models were shepherded around by male escorts dressed fully in black. The models did not show their heads. The clothes held firmly to graphic black and white, with only dashes of subtle colors like pale sky blue, dark chocolate or oyster gray used sparingly. New shimmering dresses of black satin were recast using applique and things from the past were reassembled into new creations.

On the right is a New York lady named Louise Doktor wearing a coat made by Martin Margiela, which has four sleeves. After shaking everyone up wearing the cream one, she bought another coat exactly the same in navy blue. She collects avant-garde fashion.

In his new film "Alfie" a remake of the Michael Caine 1966 film, Jude Law wears Martin Margiela 3 button suits with aplomb, drawing glances of admiring women.

Spring/Summer 2005

During Paris Fashion Week in October 2004, Martin Margiela showed his collection for next Spring. A dress from this collection is shown on the left.

He has left behind deconstructionism and showed draped dresses in beautiful colours like scarlet, jade green and sky blue. Black trench coats over shoulders, white and beige outfits were double-faced with high waist lines. He presented a unique show which was genuinely creative in every way.

Today

After leaving Hermes, Martin set up a new huge headquarters in the Oberkampf district in Northeast of Paris. Behind him is Renzo Rosso, the Italian founder of Diesel jeans and a fashion entrepreneur. He has also purchased D'Squared. He has almost doubled the company's revenue since joining Margiela. But he says "it is still 100% Martin, he checks every single fabric and fitting".

Spring/Summer 2006
Paris Fashion Week

Martin Margiela presented his Spring/Summer 2006 collection during Paris Fashion Week in October 2005. A full length shocking pink satin, button-down-the-front dress from the collection is shown on the right. You will note it has only one sleeve, a Margiela speciality and the sleeveless arm has only a ribbon tie around the wrist. It has of course, an asymmetrical hemline.

Martin has changed his style since Diesel has taken over the finances. He has expanded the jewellery line and this collection included great gems of colour, mauve, turquoise, and cherry red, encircling necks and arms above tailored pantsuits and white dresses. The clothes were lovely but sometimes deliberately incomplete. A pair of pants may have only one elegant leg, and another garment trailed a bale of cloth behind on a cart. Martin is a smart, witty designer, and this merry show was proof of it.

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Maison Martin Margiela by Martin Margiela

2005