From 22 March to 2 September 2018, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs is hosting the exhibition “Margiela, les années Hermès” originally devised by the ModeMuseum (MoMu) in collaboration with Martin Margiela and presented in antwerp in 2017. This unprecedented project highlights a collaboration between Hermès and the Belgian designer, from 1997 to 2003, that was as surprising as it was fertile. This tribute to Martin Margiela provides the first ever opportunity in France to exhibit his women’s ready-to-wear collections for the famous Parisian house in contrast with his own creations under his eponymous label. The interplay of 120 ac-cessorised silhouettes that move between innovative deconstruction and timeless luxury, offers an understanding of and an insight into Martin Margiela’s very personal approach. The fashion designer’s two worlds thus provide the starting point for the “Margiela, les années Hermès” exhibition, for which the artistic direction is to be undertaken by Martin Margiela himself.
The second exhibition takes place at musee Galliera, Paris and it’s the first retrospective in Paris devoted to Belgian fashion designer Martin Margiela, traces the career, from spring-summer 1989 to spring-summer 2009, of a designer who not only questioned the structure of garments but also challenged the structure of the fashion system. Margiela’s conceptual approach challenged the fashion aesthetics of his time. His way of constructing a garment involved deconstructing it, exposing the inside, the lining, and the unfinished parts, and revealing the different stages of manufacture: pleats, shoulder pads, patterns, bastings and all. Margiela remains the creator without a face, the man who does not do interviews, and whose clothes came with a plain white label bereft of any brand-name. This man who promotes anonymity is famous, not only for his use of white, a colour that he espoused in a multitude of shades, but also for holding his défilés in unusual venues: in car-parks, warehouses, a metro station, or on waste ground. Using more than 130 silhouettes, videos of défilés, House archives and special installations, the Margiela / Galliera exhibition offers us an unprecedented look at one of the most influential contemporary fashion designers.