Maison Margiela: Glenn Martens’s Debut – A New Era For Fashion

“After this program, we such as fashion once more,” claimed celebrated style stylist and Vogue World Paris creative supervisor Carine Roitfeld adhering to Glenn Martens’s debut at Maison Margiela on Wednesday. It may have been Martens’s first program for Maison Margiela, however he is well at home at OTB– the maison’s moms and dad business also owns Diesel, of which he has actually been creative director considering that 2020. No marvel Rosso trusted him to take over the Margiela job as well: “I required to provide Margiela a brand-new era. Yes, the versions put on masks, simply like the models in creator Martin Margiela’s Artisanal shows, the plastic covers appeared like those of Martin’s degree show when he was in Antwerp (Thank you, Alexandre Samson, for the suggestion), and the corsets were reminiscent of Galliano. After this program, we like style again.”

Martens Takes the Helm at Maison Margiela

“All my life, I’ve been delighted at seeing new abilities come with. Which is to claim, I’ve had a terrific time.”

No surprise Rosso trusted him to take control of the Margiela task too: “I required to provide Margiela a new period. Your house was superb with Martin, fantastic with John. And currently we take it to the modern world, where whatever’s constantly duplicated and [looks] the same. I believe we are among the few business that stay concentrated on imagination,” the OTB founder claimed after the show. “In the 5 years I’ve dealt with Glenn, I knew the hand of this individual boggles the mind. And I recognize it’s hard to picture, due to the fact that couture can look like outfit, yet these originalities he presented will be the foundations for several new items.”

A Nod to the Past, A Step into the Future

The phenomenon Martens simply provided, on the various other hand, had its feet firmly on the planet we reside in today. Yes, the versions put on masks, much like the models in founder Martin Margiela’s Artisanal programs, the plastic covers looked like those of Martin’s level program when he was in Antwerp (Thank you, Alexandre Samson, for the tip), and the bodices were similar to Galliano. But the masks this time around really did not ensure the interest stayed focused on the clothes as Martin Margiela meant when he began using them in 1989. Rather, they finished the feeling of gloom and anarchy located in the thrifted textiles, the draped metal materials, the dip-dyed nails and all the feathers that I could not assist yet connect with the attractive fairy book collection all millennial and senior Gen Z ladies have been feasting on post-pandemic.

It might have been Martens’s initial program for Maison Margiela, however he is well at home at OTB– the maison’s parent firm additionally has Diesel, of which he has actually been innovative director since 2020. He has introduced the label, a favourite of European millennials when they were coming of age in the early noughties, to the Gen Z consumer by presenting edgy shows (one notoriously featuring a hill of prophylactics and Jennifer Coolidge) and opening them to a student target market.

Still, the stakes were high, not the very least since Martens’s predecessor was John Galliano, that left Maison Margiela in December 2024 after ten years at its helm. Galliano’s broader influence on fashion is undeniable (and his time at Givenchy and Dior in the 1990s and 2000s fabulous), and Margiela sales grew 23 per cent in 2023 and 24 percent in the 2021-2022 period.

Galliano’s Legacy and Martens’s Vision

“The very first appearance was a clear recommendation to Martin Margiela with the plastic covers of Martin’s level collection in Antwerp. The bodices were absolutely John. The forms and silhouettes, the plumes, and all the embroideries are totally Glenn.”

“It was a positive and spectacular first expression of Martens’s vision. It is not an easy point to create genuine emotional intensity, neither to stabilize fragile and defiant ideas in such an impactful method.”

Emotional Intensity and Defiant Ideas

“It’s a masterpiece of balance between all the designers that came before him and himself. And completely in contact with everything that is taking place around us, as well. After this program, we like fashion again.”

“After this program, we such as style again,” claimed renowned style stylist and Style World Paris imaginative director Carine Roitfeld complying with Glenn Martens’s debut at Maison Margiela on Wednesday. This merrymaking came in raw contrast to the emotions we all really felt simply a couple of minutes prior to, during what was possibly one of the most impacting programs I have ever seen.

Several parallels have actually additionally been attracted between Martens and the house’s founder, Martin Margiela: both finished from Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts, both relocated to Paris after graduation, and both began their jobs working for Jean Paul Gaultier (Margiela in 1984 and Martens in 2008).

His couture reveals for your home were “occasional however impactful”, as my colleague Lucy Maguire created previously this year, while his last one, in January 2024, was potentially the most renowned fashion occasions of the post-pandemic era. Occurring under the Pont d’Alexandre III by the Seine, it starred a collection of misfit personalities in bodices, padded hips, large lace, porcelain doll makeup and pubic merkins influenced by Brassaï’s portraits of the personalities that wandered the nighttime roads of Paris in the 1920s and 1930s.

“I think it is among one of the most gorgeous collections I have actually seen from Glenn. It did make me consider the archival Margiela items that I made use of to shoot when I started in 2010, yet it is a contemporary collection. It was a reflection of our worry, and it was extremely psychological. It really felt susceptible and like a relocation towards freedom. That’s why currently, after the program, we have these balloons to assist us comparison concern with delight. Glenn is quite of his generation, our generation. Millennials, most of us grew up in a world that was opening up, while we were still in our bubbles. We were not permitted to do anything, however we were informed we might do everything.”