In the noise and hubbub over John Galliano's first collection for Margiela, you could be forgiven for missing out on one of the biggest changes at the Paris house since the once-disgraced British designer was announced as creative director. Maison Martin Margiela is now known simply as "Maison Margiela".
A spokesperson for the brand confirmed the change in name, telling the New York Times that it "reflects the evolution of the house". In short: new designer, new name. In the same way that Hedi Slimane dropped the "Yves" in "Yves Saint Laurent" when he took over as creative director, Margiela wants to signify a shake-up in the leadership of the company.
Margiela has now altered the name of its Twitter and Instagram accounts to read "Maison Margiela". The invite to the Artisanal show, too, reflected the change:
This isn't as straightforward as "Galliano in, Martin out". Founder Martin Margiela exited the company way back in 2009. In line with the brand's under-the-radar ethos, it never officially announced a head designer since Galliano. The closest Margiela came to announcing Martin's replacement was when Suzy Menkes outed Matthieu Blazy in a Vogue report – though even that went officially unacknowledged by the brand.
In any case, Martin Margiela apparently gave Galliano the seal of approval last year when news of his appointment broke – so we don't imagine he'll be too angry that Martin's off the agenda.
