Maison Margiela

MAISON MARGIELA, THE MAISON OF EXPERIMENTALISM

Maison Margiela is a French fashion house, founded by designer Martin Margiela.

Spring / summer 1996 collection

MARTIN MARGIELA: HISTORY

Belgian designer, Martin studied at the Académie des Beaux Arts in Antwerp. Significantly, he was a student first of the graphics course, then of the one dedicated to fashion. Exhibiting his first clothes in collective with five other Academy graduates. Having worked in Milan in the early 1980s, returning to Antwerp as a stylist for some department stores. It was in 1984 that he signed his first women’s ready-to-wear collection. In the same year, he became Gaultier ‘s assistant with whom he remained until 1987. In Paris, he joined forces with Jenny Maeirens and in October ’89 he launched his own prêt-à-porter collection.

Martin Margiela 2005

The characteristics of his style immediately appear in full evidence: great creativity in the use of techniques and ideas, with elements taken from all cultures, ethnic motifs, recycled and reused materials. In 1989, the Musée Galliera in Paris dedicated an exhibition to him. He was the first, in 1990, to break with tradition and to parade outside the Cour Carrée of the Louvre: since then he will always choose atmospheric places such as a railway tunnel or an abandoned garage. Experimentation remains his distinctive feature and his collections are a forge of ideas.

In ’97 he was appointed artistic director for the prêt-à-porter of the Maison Hermès .

RENZO ROSSO ACQUIRES MAISON MARGIELA

In 2002 the Maison Martin Margiela was bought by Renzo Rosso, president of the Diesel Group .

The Belgian designer, who works for Hermès and has his own house in Paris, needed a strong partner to develop. The owner of Diesel has become the majority shareholder and chairman of Neuf Group, the company that owns the Margiela brand which follows its operational management. Mitsubishi Corporation also joined the Group in a minority. Martin Margiela and Jenny Maeirens, who founded the maison with him in 1988 in Paris, still remain shareholders in the company.

In 2008 the Maison Martin Margiela signs an agreement with L’Oréal for the creation of a line of perfumes.

MM6

Line 6 better known as MM6 is a broad spectrum women’s collection designed for a wider audience. A rebrand of the MM6 line took place in 2006, approaching feminine and casual codes in a completely original way through contemporary cuts and prints that are found in the women’s clothing, footwear, accessories and leather goods collections. A single horizontal stitch, visible from the outside of the garment, secures the MM6 label to the garment.

In 2019, the MM6 line moves its collections from London to Milan, where it shows for the first time in summer 2021.

THE ARRIVAL OF JOHN GALLIANO IN MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA

The 2015 Haute Couture signed by John Galliano

In 2014, John Galliano joined the creative direction of the Maison Martin Margiela brand , fresh from the accusation of anti-Semitism when he was in Dior. Its avant-garde collections appeal to customers and achieve good market success. From 2014 to 2019, the year in which he was reconfirmed at the helm of the brand by the owner Renzo Rosso of the Otb group, sales doubled, also producing the men’s collection. At the center of Galliano’s interest, the Artisanal couture collection. John Galliano imagines an aesthetic fusion with an experimental couture for the Otb label. Between destroy constructions and Japan accents, punkish irreverence and genderless provocations. Under his leadership, bags and sneakers were launched that bring the business to + 60% in the accessories segment. 

Margiela Artisanal

Gianfranco Gianangeli becomes the new CEO of Maison Margiela in 2020, joining the maison in September. The manager previously worked for Givenchy, Prada and Bottega Veneta. 

For 2021 Maison Margiela and Reebok announce new colors of the Classic leather Tabi and Club c Maison Margiela models.

Maison Margiela x Reebok

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