SOMMAIRE

CONTENTS

PRESS RELEASE 3
SCENOGRAPHY 4
EXHIBITION TRAIL 5
ACCOMPANYING BOOK 17
EXTRACTS FROM THE BOOK 18
Spring-Summer show 1989 18
Spring-Summer show 1997 20
Spring-Summer show 2007 21
CONCISE BIOGRAPHY 23
LEARNING ACTIVITIES 24
HANS BOODT MANNEQUINS 25
PRACTICAL INFORMATION 26

PRESS CONTACTS

Anne de Nesle, Caroline Chenu

Assistant: Mélanie Rosset
01 56 52 86 08
[email protected]

PRESS VISUALS ON REQUEST

2
 PRESS RELEASE

This exhibition is part of the “Saison Margiela

2018 à Paris”, as is also the exhibition “Margiela
les années Hermès” (22 March – 2 September
2018) at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (MAD),
which was designed and presented
at the MoMu, Antwerp in 2017.

This exhibition, 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.
Martin Margiela (b. Louvain, 1957) graduated from the Fashion department of
the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp, in 1980. After a stint as Jean Paul Gaultier’s
assistant between 1984 and 1987, he was associated with the Antwerp School and
became the only Belgian designer of his generation to have founded his own fashion
house in Paris.
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.
He pushed the scale of a garment to extremes, enlarging the proportions to 200%
in his “Oversize Collection”, for example, or by adapting dolls’ clothes to the life-size
human form in the “Barbie Collection”.
He printed trompe l’œil photos of dresses, sweaters and coats and established
a new form of “cloven” shoe inspired by traditional Japanese tabi, i.e. with the big toe
separated from the others.
Margiela questioned the obsolescence of clothes with his “artisanal” collection,
created from vintage garments and recovered materials transformed into unique
hand-sewn pieces. And also with his “Replica” series of vintage clothes garnered
from around the world and reproduced identically.
Margiela remains the creator without a face, the man who does not give
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 100 silhouettes, videos of défilés, House archives and special
installations, the Margiela / Galliera exhibition offers an unprecedented look
at one of the most influential contemporary fashion designers.

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Martin Margiela

CURATOR
Alexandre Samson, Director of contemporary collections at the Palais Galliera

3
 SCENOGRAPHY

The scenography for this retrospective was worked out in collaboration with
Martin Margiela as an exhibition and, at the same time, a site under construction.
Martin Margiela always paid particular attention to the composition of the space
of his shows. What he wanted to create here was the sense of wandering through
a private place, establishing a close and direct relationship with the garments.
It wouldn’t have done to design a neutral scenography, because the spaces where
the clothes were designed, made and presented at the time were never neutral.
The challenge was to find a coherent way of matching the pieces to their surroundings
in the context of the museum.
Thus, some elements of the formal vocabulary of the clothes have been transposed
to the space: visible structures and assemblages, accumulation, recycling, installations,
lighting effects, standard or recycled materials and objects, and over-dyeing.
The “exhibition” as object is deconstructed: it is a working proposition about progress
on the site, the state of transition, uncertainties and possibilities. Traces of the
dismantling of the previous exhibition and the assembly activities have been preserved.
Not all the surfaces have been covered in white, here it follows the light, it is both lighting
and support. It punctuates the exhibition trail, intermittently lighting up the shadow
that makes up most of the exhibition.
There are a number of installations in the exhibition; these are the “Fan’s bedrooms”.
They were inspired by the work of Japanese photographer Kyoichi Tsuzuki. They
are snapshots of the period, time triggers – reconstructions of the relevant period
on a very intimate scale, i.e., someone’s home, their actual experience. They situate
the clothes in people’s real life.

SCENOGRAPHER
Ania Martchenko

4
 CHRONOLOGICAL
EXHIBITION TRAIL

1989 – 1994: TEN MANIFESTO COLLECTIONS

Salon d’honneur

The first period of Martin Margiela’s work covered his first ten collections. It acted as
a manifesto for the rest of his career. The venues for his fashion shows shocked the press:
waste ground, abandoned car parks, closed metro stations and Salvation Army auction
halls; at the same time, they helped his name acquire international recognition.
From his first fashion show, he had his models wear split-toed tabi boots while their
faces were often covered with a chiffon veil, which focused the public’s attention on their
outfits. Historical replicas of eighteenth century men’s ruffles were featured alongside
trompe l’œil ethnic tattoos printed on a T-shirt.
His mastery of tailoring techniques was expressed in a narrow-shouldered silhouette,
later called the “Margiela shoulder”, which he repeated over and over again in each
collection. It was in direct contrast to the broad-shouldered look of the 1980s.
He revealed the interior of a garment, worked on the way it is worn and started
his research into the oversized look, which materialized in 2000.
Recycled objects in accessories became a Martin Margiela signature after
the second show. In 1990, this practice, hitherto unheard-of in fashion, gave rise
to the “artisanal” line, featuring vintage clothes, old ball gowns or theatrical costumes,
which Martin Margiela remodelled into “new” clothes.
The videos of the shows cast light on Martin Margiela’s choice of women who all shared
a certain mentality rather than a particular style or age.
This period ends with a special installation, a “1994 fan’s bedroom” inspired by Kyoishi
Tsuzuki’s 2008 photo series “Happy Victims”. The photographer showed the interiors
of young Japanese people’s studio apartments, where the limited living space contrasts
with the sheer size of a collection of clothing and accessories by a single designer.
In 1999 and 2003, two collectors showed the photographer their clothes, accessories,
objects and furniture painted in “Margiela white”.
This installation pays homage to those collectors. It is made up from outfits
from the 1994 Spring-Summer collection – which consisted entirely of clothes
from his previous collections remodelled and dyed grey.

5
 1
Trouser suit, shirt, tie,
chain and pair of tabi,
Autumn-Winter 1989
Brown wool and
polyester fabric with
back stitching and
visible darts
Denim
Cork stopper, metal
and black ribbon
Silvered leather.
Collection Palais Galliera
© Julien Vidal / Galliera /
Roger-Viollet

2
Waistcoat and outsize
singlet worn as a skirt
over a belt and pair
of tabi, Spring-Summer
1990
Scraps of paper
poster advertisements
White cotton
Ribbed white cotton
jersey
Silvered leather.
Collection Palais Galliera
© Julien Vidal / Galliera /
Roger-Viollet

3
1 2
“Artisanal” waistcoat
made from a recycled
1950’s ball gown, worn
with recycled singlet
and jeans, Spring-
Summer 1991
Overdyed cotton tulle
with Nylon and taffeta
ruffles.
Collection Vicky Roditis -
© Julien Vidal / Galliera /
Roger-Viollet

4
Jacket cut from
a recycled theatre
costume and belted;
dress worn as a skirt,
Spring-Summer 1993
Grège and white
nacré velvet, cream
satin, trimmings of old-
gold metallic thread
White leather
Boxwood
Ecru ribbed cotton
jersey.
Collection Palais Galliera
© Julien Vidal / Galliera /
Roger-Viollet

3 4

6
 1994 – 1995: DOLL’S WARDROBE AND “REPLICA” LINE

Salon d’honneur

For the Autumn-Winter 1994 collection, Martin Margiela wanted to break

with his previous creations. He decided to split his collection into five groups,
whose elements he mixed to create the outfits.
Of the five, “Group III” was the most popular among the public. It gathered reproductions
of clothes from a 1960s and 1970s doll’s wardrobe, enlarged to adult proportions.
He followed the exact cut and proportions of the dolls’ clothes. That proposal, which
has become emblematic of Martin Margiela, was continued until 1999.
At the same time, the “Group II” clothes exemplified Martin Margiela’s habit, since
his first shows, of making replicas of vintage clothes. “I like clothes that I didn’t invent”,
he once confided, and he takes it so far as to reproduce the exact proportions
or disproportions of the chosen garment. The “Replica” line was launched
and has been repeated every season.
The video gives a sense of the originality of the presentation of this collection,
which was never featured in a show but in the shop windows of nine boutiques
around the world.

5 6

5 6
Doll’s pullover Identical reproduction
reproduced adult size, of a 1940s Belgian suit,
Autumn-Winter 1994- Autumn-Winter 1994-
1995 1995.
Knitted wool jersey. Striped wool twill.
Collection Palais Galliera Collection Vicky Roditis
© Julien Vidal / Galliera / © Julien Vidal / Galliera /
Roger-Viollet Roger-Viollet

7
1996 : PHOTOGRAPHED CLOTHES AND MINIMALISM

Grande galerie near la Galerie Est

The Spring-Summer 1996 collection was two dimensional, with no cut and no structure:
negative photos of clothing were printed on transparent or fluid fabrics. Only the trompe
l’œil image provided the volume. The photographs were taken by four photographers
who had been close to Martin Margiela from the very beginning: Anders Edström, Marina
Faust, Ronald Stoops and Tatsuya Kitayama. For the first time in his collections, Martin
Margiela created a print rather than re-using printed fabrics. The tabi on the models’ feet
became invisible; they were reduced to simple black leather soles held on by strips
of transparent shipping tape.
Martin Margiela created an Autumn-Winter collection with simplified forms, made from
classic materials. This parade of austere clothes led the press to re-evaluate Margiela, no
longer as a “destructive” designer, but as a “minimalist”, to the great chagrin of the latter
who did not recognize himself in this trend that had been in vogue since the mid-1990s.
However, it was this collection that attracted the attention of Hermès – he went on to
design the Hermes women’s ready-to-wear collections from 1998 to 2003.

7 8
Trompe l’œil bodice Pair of tabi soles,
and skirt, Spring- Spring-Summer 1996
Summer 1996 Black leather
Printed viscose jersey. Collection Palais Galliera
Collection Palais Galliera © Françoise Cochennec /
© Françoise Cochennec / Galliera / Roger-Viollet
Galliera / Roger-Viollet

8
1997 : THE “STOCKMAN” COLLECTIONS, SUMMER AND WINTER

Galerie Est

Spring-Summer 1997 and Autumn-Winter 1997-1998 were two sides of the same
collection, both based on a reinterpretation of the “Stockman” dressmaker’s dummy.
Worn as a jacket or a plastron, this was surely one of Martin Margiela’s most famous
creations. The designer showed what goes on backstage in a dressmaking atelier, using
the dress form as a central element of his creation for two seasons. For the first time
in the history of fashion, the stages of manufacture were turned into garments.

9
Bustier “Draping
study”, Spring-Summer
1997
100% black silk crepe
chiffon
Black and white
elasticated ribbons
White plastic
stiffeners.
Collection Palais Galliera
© Françoise Cochennec /
Galliera / Roger-Viollet

10
“Tee-shirt” ensemble,
Spring-Summer 1997
Light grey cotton
jersey dyed after
assembly
Black wool figured
in squares.
Collection Palais Galliera
© Françoise Cochennec /
Galliera / Roger-Viollet

10

9
1998 – 1999 : FLAT GARMENTS AND DUVETS AS COATS

Grande Galerie

Inspired by the paper patterns of the previous collection, for Spring-Summer 1998,
Martin Margiela decided to create flat clothes. By combining the two, at first sight,
irreconcilable principles of flatness and volume, Margiela designed one of his most
conceptual collections thanks to a complete rethink of the garment’s structure.
In contrast to these two-dimensional garments, Martin Margiela turned a feather duvet
into a coat for his Autumn-Winter 1999 collection. The piece has now become iconic.
It can be covered with vintage bed linen in flowery patterns. The garment was the height
of comfort, providing a sense of wellbeing on the eve of Y2K and all the anxieties
that went with it.

11
Flat sleeveless jacket,
Spring-Summer 1998
Wool and polyester
flattened with an iron.
Collection Palais Galliera
© Françoise Cochennec /
Galliera / Roger-Viollet

12
“Duvet” coat,
Autumn-Winter 1999-
2000
Cotton filled with
goose down.
Collection Vicky Roditis
© Julien Vidal / Galliera /
Roger-Viollet

11

12

10
2000 – 2002 : THE “OVERSIZE” COLLECTIONS

Grande Galerie

This was the first season of the new millennium. The Spring-Summer 2000 collection,
later dubbed Oversize, was the starting point of a new period in Martin Margiela’s work.
For the first time, he enlarged an entire collection to size XXXXL – the equivalent of an
Italian size 78 – by making radical changes to the structure of the garments. The press of
the day acknowledged that this collection contradicted “disconcertingly, the silhouette
of the time, which was slim and close fitting.” The concept of overblown proportions
was such a rich seam that Martin Margiela worked it over five consecutive collections
until Spring-Summer 2002, an attitude that was entirely at odds with the fashion system,
obsessed as it is with constant renewal.

13
Outsize shirt worn as
a dress, Spring-Summer
2000.
White cotton poplin
with narrow light blue,
dark blue, and black
stripes
Mother of pearl plastic
buttons.
Collection Palais Galliera
© Françoise Cochennec /
Galliera / Roger-Viollet

14
Reefer jacket and
dress with high lining,
size 78, Autumn-Winter
2000-2001
Wool and polyester
felt, lining in viscose
and felt.
Collection Vicky Roditis
© Julien Vidal / Galliera /
Roger-Viollet

13

14

11
 15
Plastron and skirt
ensemble, Spring-
Summer 2001.
Composite materials
in light colours
White cotton tape
Off-white mixed
polyester.
Collection Palais Galliera
© Françoise Cochennec /
Galliera / Roger-Viollet

16
Cape, shorts et tabi
thigh boots ensemble,
Autumn-Winter 2001-
2002
80% wool and 20%
black cashmere twill
Faded cotton denim
Black leather.
Collection Palais Galliera
© Françoise Cochennec /
Galliera / Roger-Viollet

15

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 2002 – 2006 : DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS OF GARMENTS

Grande Galerie

Extensive research on oversize paved the way for new and creative approaches.
All Margiela’s collections were a response to specific themes related to the way a
garment is worn and the gestures it gives rise to. Whether it was bunching a skirt, putting
on a garment sideways, or raising the collar of a coat over the head, by adapting the cut
accordingly, Margiela radically changed the interpretation of these everyday clothes.
The “artisanal” line eventually came to be acknowledged in this period; from 2006
onwards, it was presented as part of the haute couture calendar.
The trail is interrupted by another installation, a “2006 fan’s bedroom”, once again
inspired by Kyoishi Tsuzuki’s 2008 photo series “Happy Victims”. It consists of outfits
drawn from the collections between Autumn-Winter 1994 and Spring-Summer 2006,
and also includes many pieces from Martin Margiela’s second retrospective
collection from Spring-Summer 1999.

17 18 19

17 18 19
Dress made from Horizontal skirt-dress Inverted wigs top,
old petticoats, Spring- with embroidered Autumn-Winter 2005-
Summer 2003 front worn over a black 2006
Black Nylon net, black fishnet slip, Spring- Artificial hair
polyester fabric, black Summer 2005 Putty-coloured
tarlatan Viscose, Lurex leather.
Black lace scallop. embroidery Collection Palais Galliera
Collection Palais Galliera Black fishnet. © Julien Vidal / Galliera /
© Françoise Cochennec / Collection Palais Galliera Roger-Viollet
Galliera / Roger-Viollet © Françoise Cochennec /
Galliera / Roger-Viollet

13
2007-2008 : A BREAK WITH THE STYLE

Galerie Ouest

In a break with his previous studies, which were in danger of becoming a caricature
of themselves, the designer drew on childhood memories for fresh inspiration: red, blue,
white, fluorescent, bold prints, stripes, and polka dots all featured in the silhouettes
of this period. The line of the garments was simplified, classic typologies were turned
on their head: trousers/skirt, dress/bodystocking.
Margiela who, at his first show, had reacted against the wide shoulder pads of the 1980’s,
began to work on new shoulders, creating the illusion that the body itself had changed:
invisible in a bodystocking, these new silhouettes with pointed shoulders or “cones”
were evidence of genuine technical prowess.

20 21
“Target” dress and “Incognito” glasses,
scarf, Spring-Summer Spring-Summer 2008
2007 Black plastic.
Cut-out printed silk Collection Palais Galliera
Jersey. © Julien Vidal / Galliera /
Collection Palais Galliera Roger-Viollet
© Julien Vidal / Galliera /
Roger-Viollet

20

21

14
 22
Suit jacket with
pointed shoulders worn
over distressed trousers,
Spring-Summer 2008
Pekin wool
Slashed cotton twill
Collection Palais Galliera
© Julien Vidal / Galliera /
Roger-Viollet

23
“Cone” trench
coat with detachable
shoulder pads, and belt,
Autumn-Winter 2008-
2009
Putty-coloured 70%
wool and 30% cotton
gabardine
Beige washed cotton.
Collection Palais Galliera -
© Françoise Cochennec /
Galliera / Roger-Viollet

22

23

15
2009 : THE “20TH BIRTHDAY” SHOW

Salon Carré

The 40 passages in the collection – one for each past fashion show - were presented
out of chronological order. Each one was inspired by the themes and research that
Martin Margiela has been into over the 20 years. This show is represented here by a
selection of ten silhouettes.
In twenty years, Martin Margiela had never stopped questioning fashion, clothes and
the uses they are put to. His work on the proportions of garments, his deconstruction
of the classic wardrobe in order to create new forms, the way he shaped the shoulder line
– he was one of the few contemporary creators to renew the vocabulary –, the way he
turned seams inside out and revealed the stages of manufacture, made imperfection into
a motif, the status he gave to vintage clothes and appropriated objects – as we saw
in his ”artisanal” line – but also his use of trompe l’oeil, the colour white, and the
anonymity of the label. All these themes, which were renewed in his last collection made
him, as French newspaper Libération put it, “one of the most astute and talented creators
of his generation”.
The exhibition ends with a final installation of a “2018 fan’s bedroom”, which the visitor
is invited not just to look at, but to walk through. An assemblage of models from 2007
to 2009 have been collected together in this bedroom, along with retrospective pieces
illustrating the collaboration in 2013 between H&M and Maison Margiela.

24 25
Wig-coat and Poster worn as a
wig, Autumn-Winter dress, Spring-Summer
2008-2009 (collection 2009
“artisanal”) and Spring- Silk satin, printed with
Summer 2009 the pattern of a jacket
Blond synthetic hair from Margiela’s first
Ivory-coloured taffeta. collection.
Collection Palais Galliera Collection Palais Galliera
© Stéphane Piera / Galliera © Françoise Cochennec /
/ Roger-Viollet Galliera / Roger-Viollet

24

25

16
 PUBLICATION

Martin Margiela,
collections Femme 1989-2009

24,5 x 31 cm
160 pages
Binding: cut edges with dustcover
200 illustrations
35 €

Author: Alexandre Samson

Artistic Director: Martin Margiela
Preface: Miren Arzalluz
Introduction: Olivier Saillard
Publisher: Paris Musées

This book covers every one of Martin

Margiela’s shows in his twenty years
of activity.

Une version anglaise de l’ouvrage sera

publiée aux Éditions Rizzoli.

LES ÉDITIONS PARIS MUSÉES

Paris Musées is a publisher of art books,

producing some thirty books each year
– exhibition catalogues, guides
to collections, and newspapers. These fine
books reflect the abundance of artworks
in the Paris museums and the diversity
of their temporary exhibitions.
www.parismusees.paris.fr

www.parismusees.paris.fr

17
 EXTRACTS FROM THE BOOK

Spring-Summer 1989
Café de la Gare, 41, rue du Temple, Paris 3e
23 October 1988, 4:30 pm

An invitation sent by telegram on 11 October 1988 invited the audience to go, on the day
of the show, to the Café de la Gare, a 300-seat Parisian café-théâtre.
The models appeared on a tiny stage, descended into the stalls and paraded through
the tiered seats. The guests, who included Jean Paul Gaultier, sat on wooden benches.
A simple white cotton canvas acted as a symbolic podium. For his soundtrack, the creator
drew from energetic rock tracks ranging from The Rolling Stones to Iggy Pop, alternating
with softer sounds like “After Hours” from the Velvet Underground.
The eighteen-minute fashion show was divided into three parts that corresponded to
the designer’s favourite colours: white, shades of red, and black. Plentifully exposed bare
skin was the other shade in the show.
The first of the 52 passages started to the rhythm of the drums and electric guitars of
the Velvet Underground’s Guess I’m Falling In Love (instrumental version). The model’s hair
was gathered in bunches. Untidy strands of hair flopped over her face hiding her blackened
eyes. Her lips were scarlet. She wore nothing but wide white trousers with clean cut hems.
On her bare chest, painted tanning marks showed traces of a phantom V-neck and short
sleeves. Her arms were crossed over her chest and sported two white “bracelets”. They were
exact replicas of an eighteenth century ruff that Martin Margiela had found a drawing of in
a book. The ruffled ends of this piece of cotton had two ribbons sewn into the bias. When
the ribbons were pulled, the nature of the bias allowed the edges to fold naturally inwards.
This way the piece would sit cleanly against the neck. The ribbons go round the neck and
are then tied in front in a small curly knot. This abstract accessory was also worn as a thick
bracelet or as a vest in the ensuing passages, with removable shirt sleeves, over wide trou-
sers with pre-bagged knees, or a skirt cut from the same men’s trousers. The ruff, the first
of Martin Margiela’s replicas, was later sold in a square box with the instructions for use
printed on the inside of its lid.
The first model wore an unusual pair of boots. Martin Margiela wanted an invisible shoe
in order to give the illusion of a bare foot resting on a sole and heel. This boot, with its sepa-
rated big toe, was inspired by Japanese tabi, and it was fastened, like them, with flat metal
hooks. The designer had seen them for the first time during a trip to Japan with fellow stu-
dents from the Antwerp Academy, worn by workers in the street. When he returned to Japan
a few years later, he learned that the separation of the big toe stimulated a reflexology point
linked to the heart. Margiela put a wide cylindrical heel on his tabi boots to give them stabil-
ity; the diameter matching the width of the heel of the foot. The heel height was designed for
a more comfortable instep than on a court shoe. Because of the technical difficulty involved
in assembling these new shoes, which were handmade, only one Italian manufacturer would
agree to produce them. The majority of the models in the fashion show wore them, the rest
went barefoot, for aesthetic as well as economic reasons.
On passage no. 5, the model wore a wide open shirt, held at the waist by two white
ribbons that shaped the back. This system was inspired by a day coat called a visite 1,

18
a floating front with shaped back, and arms set into the sleeves. Martin Margiela had dis-
covered a model of the visite, which he drew, at an exhibition at the Palais Galliera.
Silhouette no. 14 was the archetype of the collection. It hovered between a delicate top
and a wide bottom. The jacket had a new shoulder line – a complete break with the broad
shoulders that had been in vogue since the late 1970s. These shoulders were tight and
narrow. The sleeve head, well above the natural shoulder, was raised by a large cigarette
with a minimum of gathering 2. Underneath, two darts emphasised the natural curve of the
shoulder, while a gusset in the back seam allowed for easy movement of the arm. This top
contrasted with the loose-fitting trousers. There were darted pockets on the knees, which
were repeated on long, tight skirts in jersey and stretch fabric. Darts, which fashion design-
ers of the period would conceal, were everywhere in the collection: on sleeve heads, front
and back, at the crook of the arms, on the chest, the buttocks and the knees. Some knitted
garments had them on the outside with the fabric of the seam allowance visible.
Silhouette no. 19 introduced the second stage of the parade, which was dominated by
different reds.
In passage no. 23, the chiffon veil appeared, hiding the face, while the tabi boots left
strange footmarks on the cotton carpet. Those bright red footprints, the result of dunking
the hardened foam soles into a bucket of paint before going on, marked out these shoes
as one of Martin Margiela’s manifesto items.
Beneath the long skirts, slit to 20 cm above the knee, black pencil lines had been drawn
down the back of the bare legs. In the 1940s, when stockings were impossible to find,
women had resorted to this expedient to give the impression of stocking seams.
In passage no. 33, a silhouette in a dark jacket paraded out with no veil and bare feet
with her toenails painted red. It marked the third and last stage of the collection, dedicated
to black on highly contrasting materials.
Silhouette no. 39 was dressed in a long-sleeved tee-shirt in very fine flesh-coloured
mesh, printed with ethnic motifs. These were reproduced from a 19th century encyclopae-
dia illustration depicting a tattooed man from the island of Nuku Hiva, in French Polynesia.
The piece drew applause from the audience at the show and became one of the most
talked-about items from the collection in the press.
For the finale, all the models paraded in white lab coats. Margiela’s teams took to the
stage shortly afterwards, where they were joined by designer and co-founder of the fash-
ion house, Jenny Meirens. They all wore the same white lab coats – a nod to the traditional
uniform worn by models in the dressing rooms between two fittings. More than a fashion
item, this work garment, by its very neutrality, was the emblem of the new House.
That collection contained the seed of everything that came to be Martin Margiela’s sig-
nature look over the next two decades. The show ended with white; it appeared with the first
silhouette and took the form of those immaculate white lab coats. An underground place,
off the beaten path of fashion, had been roused by a personal choice of music. Nudity was
treated as a colour in its own right, enhanced by expressive make-up and roughed-up hair-
styles. The veiled faces emphasised the anonymity of the models, at the very moment when
the top models were beginning their idolised reign that was to last over the next decade.
Margiela’s tailoring skills were expressed in the cut of clothes that were full of technical
details, constructed with darts and inverted seams, but expressed above all in the invention
of a shoulder line – something only a great designer could do. His reworking of a men’s shirt
sleeve into a straightforward sleeve was similar in spirit to the historical replica of a cotton
ruff. Martin Margiela’s signature tabi, which revolutionised the vocabulary of shoes, invited
us to see things differently.
Although this was clearly a hotbed for new fashion trends, few French and Anglo-Saxon
journalists reacted to it – unlike the Japanese. The Jean Paul Gaultier connection was picked
up by the public, who became aware of a long-matured concept in dress design: Martin
Margiela had eroticised the conceptual mode, which the Rock influenced Japanese design-
ers had been promoting since 1981.
The 1989 Spring-Summer collection ran into many production problems and, of seven

19
customers, only two took delivery. But a few journalists were already tipping Martin Margiela
as a new, major creator. Some even saw this collection as “an aesthetic revelation – a breath
of fresh air 3.”

1. A fashionable garment between 1870 and 1890.

2. A small, semi-circular pad used to round off the sleeve head.

3. “Enquête. L’Europe est à la mode”, Biba, January 1989

Spring-Summer 1997
Showroom, 2bis, passage Ruelle, Paris 18e
7-16 October 1996, 10 am -7 pm

The presentation of the Spring-Summer 1997 collection was to be held in the showroom
of Maison Martin Margiela at 2bis, passage Ruelle, in the 18th arrondissement. The guests
were notified by fax so that they could save the date. Under the glass roof of this industrial
building a large field of artificial sunflowers had been planted directly in the floor. The soft
sound of muzak gave the place the atmosphere of a waiting room. Paula Girardi stood to
present the collection to buyers and the press. Further away, a video showed her walking
alongside Kristina de Coninck in the local streets, around and then in the Stalingrad metro
station, wearing various pieces of the collection, with street noises as background sound
effects.
Spring-Summer was the first part of a collection divided into two seasons. All the outfits
were based on a single element for the two seasons: a hollowed-out Stockman dressmak-
er’s form worn as a stiff jacket. Made of raw linen – like the original material on the form –,
this version was fastened down the front with twenty-four metal hooks and eyes. It also
came in the form of a breastplate. Like the old mannequins, this one had its references sten-
cilled on it: size “42” at the neck, and an inscription at the bottom, front and back: “Semi
Couture, patented S. G. E. G., 35059”. The jacket was worn directly on the skin and some-
times left open. Under it, the models wore denim jeans or a nylon slip skirt. Bound to their
feet with transparent shipping tape, they wore the tabi soles from Spring-Summer 1996.
Shoulder pads and ribbons were pinned on the bust. A white ribbon marked the waist
while others, black and narrower, indicated the neck size, the bust measurement and the
wide hips.
Wanting to learn the technique of haute couture draping, Martin Margiela had taken a
course with Hieron Pessers, who had been Hubert de Givenchy’s premier d’atelier before
becoming a teacher of modelling and draping at the Antwerp Academy. Margiela liked his
first studies so much that he made them to be worn strapless: on a base made up of wide
black and white elasticated tapes, these experiments in black chiffon were held in place
with stiffeners. Printed indications marked the position of the different parts of the bustier
on the body: “middle back”, “middle front”, “side”. The result was three studies in draping
and the structure itself, worn strapless.
Squares of putty-coloured silk crepe or black silk chiffon were hung on the bias and
worn as an asymmetrical backless dress or as a skirt. The selvedge was stamped Pura Seta
(“pure silk”), in gold like on real lengths of fabric.
The fronts and backs of skirts and woollen jumpers might be pinned on the bust-jacket
in the key colours of the collection: white, pale grey, anthracite, navy blue and black. In
contrast with this palette, one half-skirt and a half-top in crushed golden yellow velvet, an
unusual colour for Margiela, recalled the sunflowers planted in the showroom. The bright
yellow was repeated in the lining of a dress worn as a dress, which still had its original label
(“Tissu de Paris”).
Long impossibly tight dresses could only be worn by opening the invisible zip sewn into
the seams and darts. This opening determined the shape of the dress on each woman’s body.
Jackets with shawl collars or notched collars, with or without sleeves, were cut in male

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proportions. The inner structure, had been removed and replaced by a much narrower, fem-
inine shoulder line, on which the original wider shoulders of the jacket rested. XXL T-shirts
transformed into dresses or cardigans and with the same innovative shoulder line were
combined with a skirt front or a skirt lining worn as a skirt.
While Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons presented his sensational Spring-Summer
1997 collection, “Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body”, which distorted the volumes of the
human body and enveloped it in gingham, Martin Margiela produced “the most couture of
anatomy lessons 1.” That same season, Rei Kawakubo and Martin Margiela both re-interro-
gated the female body: Kawakubo deformed it to the point of abstraction, Margiela reduced
it to its simplest expression, a dressmaker’s form.
The Spring-Summer 1997 collection was one of the most popular collections in the
designer’s career and one of the most striking propositions in the history of contemporary
fashion. As French newspaper Le Monde reported, “Far from visual exploits, he enters in a
concrete way into the heart of the subject, with dresses[...] that, with their unfinished appear-
ance, offer a definition of the craft: a sense of line, hand crafting, and the necessity for accu-
racy to the nearest millimetre. Since his arrival on the scene in 1989, this has undoubtedly
been one of his most radical collections 2.”

1. Laurence Benaïm, «Les manifestes de Rei Kawakubo et de Martin Margiela», Le Monde, 19 octobre 1996.

2. Ibid

Spring-Summer 2007
École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts, Paris 6e
1st October 2006, 7:30 pm

Martin Margiela’s Spring-Summer 2007 collection marked the final stage in his creative
journey, and represented a break with his previous work.
From observing his era and its fashion in magazines, the designer felt the need to turn
his back on what he had presented up until then in ready-to-wear, although he was careful
to continue to address the same women. He rejected those elements in his collections that
he felt had become too predictable, and took off in a new direction. Clean lines replaced
the crushed and worn look, design took over from deconstruction, and the men’s suit jacket
became a feminine tailleur jacket. Margiela retained just a few ideas from his archives and
decided to seek inspiration from his childhood fashion memories.
Although he had always hated elaborate colour ranges, he amused himself by remem-
bering the worst: shop windows in the spring, in the early 1970s, dressed in red, white and
blue, with stripes, polka dots and stars everywhere. He was bold enough to go back to these
colours, adding touches of black and his favourite “invisible” colour, flesh. He also decided
to isolate himself from his assistants in order to get properly into this new approach.
The new collection, entitled Défilé, had a reduced number of models. This line became
the most important for the press; the Maison’s other lines were now being worked on by
assistants, under Margiela’s direction. The models in the “artisanal” collection were no
longer featured here; since January 2006, they had been presented during the haute cou-
ture weeks.
The public, wearing their invitations in the form of a nightclub wristband, filed into the
main hall of the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris. This 19th century hall
was unrecognizable under more than 700 meters of white washed cotton canvas hanging
from the ceiling like huge curtains and marking out a large figure of eight on the floor. The
carpet completely covering the floor still had its transparent plastic protection. Once the
audience were seated, technicians tore out a pre-cut path in the aisles between the rows
of chairs.
The room was plunged into total darkness. At the back, a shower of light fell on each
model, one by one, as the first passage progressed, with no music. A dark-haired woman

21
with a natural hair style and natural gait, smiled at the public. She wore a red jersey T-shirt
in the form of a short cape and an asymmetrical, navy-blue pencil skirt, with a notch on the
thigh through which a bare leg appeared. Her shoes were like unfinished models with tech-
nical indications pencilled in; they were fitted with wedge-shaped wooden heels. Under
the cape, her straight, square shoulders, were supported by a sleeveless, flesh-coloured
bodystocking with shoulder pads, creating the illusion that the body itself had mutated.
This bodystocking was the base of the whole collection; it was worn by twenty-eight of the
thirty-six silhouettes. The irony was that, in his very first show, in 1988, Martin Margiela had
reacted against the excesses of power dressing by imposing a narrow shoulder line.
The second passage revealed an uncovered bodystocking, combined with a long, bright
red, high-waisted skirt, teasingly revealing, then hiding, a leg. Around her neck, the model
wore a whimsical, red shirt collar with a matching scarf sewn on to it; on her feet, mis-
matched sandals: red patent leather on the left, the right inspired by an ancient sandal but
in transparent PVC; both with transparent Plexiglas heels.
The red and blue stripes on a white background appeared on passage no. 8. Margiela
had wanted to create a flounced skirt (generally thought of as old hat) but with no seams.
His solution was to cut out a huge target in a strip of jersey printed with concentric circles;
he made a hole in the centre to create a waist for the short skirt. By cutting a half moon into
another target, he obtained a top in the form of a cape. The unused corners of jersey were
salvaged and worn elsewhere as scarves.
In passage no. 16, flesh-coloured bodystockings without shoulder pads appeared, with
a trompe l’œil black bra appliquéd on the front. Silhouette no. 18 wore hers with a long-
sleeved dress with a deep plunging neckline with one of her legs outside it. The way the
garment is worn changes the interpretation.
Silhouette no. 21 was a flesh-coloured bodystocking worn with white trousers with a
huge star in black patent leather appliquéd on the belt at the waist. This disco-style star
motif also appeared as a shower of stars printed on a blue silk satin background on the sil-
houettes that followed her. In a later passage, it was echoed in a huge black patent leather
note of music, entirely covering the model’s bust.
A white tuxedo with wide notched lapels, another reminder of the 1970s, set the tone for
passage no. 35. The (removable) collar, was combined with a triangular plastron. In order
not to widen the hips of the tight trousers, Martin Margiela had had the idea of moving the
pockets to the front of the thighs and placing them lower than usual.
The 36th and last silhouette gave us the trompe l’œil bra bodysuit worn with extra-long
trousers, the legs of which drooped and dragged on the ground like two trains almost a
yard long.
For the finale, all the house staff walked on to the podium in white coats with the models,
to the accompaniment of a hard-rock number. The models all held glasses of champagne.
As they passed, the spotlights alternately projected red, white or blue haloes on to them,
as if it were a nightclub. At that point, the whole structure holding the curtains was hoisted
two metres above the ground, and the audience, until then separated into small groups,
became a crowd once again.
The next day, the international fashion press made much of the extent to which this fash-
ion show had made a break with the past. “This was totally different from past collections”,
said the leading Japanese journal 1. Editors everywhere reported a more classic collection,
both in its presentation and in the models. They noted in particular the new shoulder line with
shoulder pads built into a flesh coloured bodystocking, the omnipresence of tight-fitting
garments and the use of fluid jersey that moves with the wearer. “Maison Martin Margiela
has come round to adopting the codes of the classic fashion show,” said Le Figaro 2.

1. Senken Shimbun, 3 octobre 2006.

2. Virginie Mouzat, « Tout recommence à Paris », Le Figaro, 3 octobre 2006.

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 CONCISE BIOGRAPHY
WITH MILESTONES

1957 1988
Martin Margiela born First Martin Margiela défilé in
in Louvain, Belgium. Paris for Spring-Summer 1989.

1976-1980 1990
Studied at the Antwerp Created the “artisanal” atelier
Académie des beaux-arts, at the Maison Martin Margiela,
fashion department. thanks to the ANDAM Fashion
Award.
1980
Worked for an Italian fashion 1997
group in Milan Martin Margiela appointed
artistic director for women’s
1982 ready-to-wear at Maison
Back in Antwerp, designed Hermès, where he stayed
raincoats for a Belgian until October 2003.
manufacturer, did some styling
and illustrations for trend 2002
books. Maison Martin Margiela
acquired by OTB group.
1983 Jenny Meirens retires.
The Canette d’or competition,
organized by the government 2006
to promote Belgian creation, The “artisanal” line entered
provided the opportunity the haute couture
to create several collections presentations calendar.

1984 2008
Became an assistant designer The night of the Spring-
to Jean Paul Gaultier. Summer 2009 show, Martin
Margiela left the Maison
1987 Margiela, which was
Left Maison Jean Paul celebrating twenty years
Gaultier and, with Jenny of fashion design.
Meirens, founded the Maison
Martin Margiela. They gave
themselves a year to plan
their opening.

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 LEARNING ACTIVITIES

INDIVIDUAL WORKSHOPS Recycled jewellery FAMILY ACTIVITIES

8-12 years / 2 h / 8 participants
The little fashion explorer (in French) The faceless dress designer,
Children 4-6 years / Duration 1h30 Martin Margiela recycles objects a story-telling exhibition visit
6 participants (in French) to make jewellery out of them 5-12 years / 1h30 / 12 participants
With their “mystery” cards (cartes (turning forks into bracelets, bottle (in French)
“mystère”) children go on a treasure tops into necklaces, for example). Large-size garments (XXL) sewn
hunt to discover this unusual fashion Participants will take an object – a with white cotton, fashion parades in
designer, Martin Margiela. Once they sewing-machine tin – and turn it into unusual places… Children and their
have completed the trail, they will a pendant. parents are invited to listen to this
do graffiti on a leather cuff bracelet mysterious adventure “told” by the
and on a badge. My Invitation card clothes themselves.
8-12 years / 1h30 / 8 participants
Apprentice fashion designer (in French) Guided exhibition visit
7-12 years / 3 h / 8 participants Taking inspiration from designs 3rd Thursday of the month at 7:00 pm
(in French) by Martin Margiela that they have and certain Saturdays at 2:30 pm
In a design atelier, participants make seen in the exhibition (e.g., his plate and 4:00 pm.
a set of silhouettes out of recycled waistcoat, or the Stockman jacket) Age 15 years and over/ 1h30 /
materials. Paper, cardboard, gouache and from the spaces he chose for his 20 participants - Reservation not
and adhesives will be the materials fashion shows (e.g., waste ground, required for individuals
for creating a collection inspired a metro station), participants will
by those of Martin Margiela. create an invitation card. Special visits for handicapped
people
Poems borrowed and recycled Upcycling and recycling Special visits are arranged for visually
8-10 years / 1h30 / 8 participants 13-18 years / 4 h / 6 participants and hearing impaired persons.
(in French) (in French)
After visiting the exhibition, Taking inspiration from the habit, dear
participants will be taught how to to Martin Margiela’s heart, of finding INFORMATION AND RESERVATION
create a centon*. They will “recycle” a new use for old clothes, participants
well-known French poems in order will breathe new life into old jeans, Evren Adanir for group visits
to make new poems out of them. T-shirts and shirts by turning them, 01 56 52 86 21
* A centon is a particular kind with the aid of the museum’s sewing
of literary work where you take lines machines, into trendy bags. Laure Bernard for individual visits
from one or several other poems 01 56 52 86 20
and turn them into a new poem. Lookbook – my first collection
Originally, the word cento was Latin 13-18 years / 3 h / 8 participants [email protected]
for a piece of cloth made from (in French)
a patchwork of other pieces Like the fashion designer Martin
of material. Margiela, participants will construct
a mini plan for a collection and make
Apron completely held together a lookbook of models, with miniature
with sticky tape patterns and materials of their choice
8-12 years / 3 h / 6 participants (e.g., cardboard, fabrics, etc.).
(in French)
The apron was a key item
in the Martin Margiela wardrobe.
Participants will be guided through
the stages of using a sewing machine
to make a workshop apron.

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 CREATING CHARACTERS
www.hansboodtmannequins.com

Hans Boodt Mannequins is a showcase mannequin

house created in Rotterdam at the turn of the 2000s
by its founder, former visual merchandiser Hans Boodt.
Thanks to a bold and sometimes provocative creative
sense and a keen sense of direction, the label quickly
revolutionised the industry’s codes and gained a wide
reputation as a “character maker” (i.e., a creator of iconic
characters rather than mannequins) among the world’s
leading brands.
Hans Boodt Mannequins has a growing affinity with
the most demanding pioneering fashion houses and,
for the past two years, has developed collections
featuring highly advanced and innovative details.
We apply custom-made creation techniques using 3D
modelling and printing. At the same time, the brand also
nurtures its inspiration through an increasing number
© David Zagdoun of partnerships with institutions and talented opinion
leaders, including Walter Van Beirendonck’s exhibition
Power Mask: The Power of Masks at the Wereldmuseum
(Rotterdam), and Reflection by Jean Paul Lespagnard
at the Musée Mode et Dentelle (Brussels). We are also
active supporters, every year, of the Hyères Fashion
and Photography Festival.
We have opened a presentation space in the heart of
the fashion capital. In addition to exhibiting collections
specific to the Parisian market, this showcase makes it
possible to promote all forms of collaborative operation.
The first of them involved the studio of artist Mathias
Kiss, who designed a graphic and immersive interior
scenography.
To work with the Palais Galliera in this retrospective
devoted to one of the most avant-garde fashion
designers of the 20th century has been an exceptional
opportunity for Hans Boodt Mannequins. It reflects
the way we have gradually developed from being a
manufacturer to being a creative studio. Over a hundred
of the 150 mannequins that met the selection criteria of
Artistic Director Martin Margiela’s team were customised
aesthetically or functionally. We achieved a very real
flexibility in making it possible for the teams to perform
direct changes on certain models.

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 PRACTICAL INFORMATION

PALAIS GALLIERA PARIS MUSÉES

Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris The Palais Galliera is one of the
10, avenue Pierre-Ier-de-Serbie fourteen museums that make up
75116 Paris this network, administered by
Tel. 01 56 52 86 00 Établissement Public Paris Musées,
www.palaisgalliera.paris.fr contain collections of exceptional
diversity and quality.
GETTING THERE In a gesture of outreach and an urge
Métro 9 Iéna or Alma-Marceau to share this fabulous heritage, new
Bus 32, 42, 63, 72, 80, 82, 92 policies have been put in place for
Vélib’ 4, rue de Longchamp / welcoming visitors. These include
1, rue Bassano / 2, avenue Marceau affordable charges for temporary
Autolib’ 1, avenue Marceau, exhibitions, and particular attention
33, avenue Pierre-Ier-de-Serbie, paid to visitors ordinarily deprived
24, avenue d’Iéna of access to cultural amenities. The
permanent collections and temporary
OPENING TIMES exhibitions therefore include a varied
Tuesday to Sunday 10.00 am – programme of cultural activities.
6.00 pm There is also an Internet website
Late opening Thursday till 9 pm giving access to the complete
Closed on Mondays and 1st May programme of museum activities and
Open exceptionally: 1st April; 8, 10 to online details of the collections.
and 20 May, 14 July
Last tickets issued and no further
entry to the exhibition 45 minutes PARIS MUSÉES SEASON-TICKET
before museum closing time. EXHIBITIONS À LA CARTE!

ADMISSION A card can be bought from Paris

Normal 10 € Musées, which gives unlimited
Reductions 8 € access, ahead of the queue, to the
Free to people under 18 years temporary exhibitions in all 14 of the
Preferential admission charge museums of Paris*, as well as special
from 22 March to 15 July: reduced tariffs for activities. It entitles the
admission to the Palais Galliera on holder to reductions in the bookshop-
presentation of a full-price entrance boutiques and the cafe-restaurants,
ticket for MAD, Paris (Musée des Arts and to receive prior information about
Décoratifs) and vice versa. events in the museums.
*Except the Crypte archéologique
The Palais Galliera only presents du Parvis de Notre-Dame and the
temporary exhibitions. Catacombs
The collections are not on
permanent display. www.parismusees.paris.fr

Follow us on:

@PalaisGalliera
#MargielaGalliera

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