Martin Margiela is one of the most iconoclastic fashion designers of all time – and he’s also one of the most invisible. It’s been nearly eight years since he left the house he founded and withdraw from the world of fashion, and yet the influence of his grunge techniques, conceptual approach and sleek aesthetic remains as profound as they ever were.
Today, a major retrospective of Margiela’s work has been announced. Set to open in March 2018, it is understood that the exhibition will be hosted by the Palais Galliera in Paris.
It is also said that the designer himself will be working on the exhibition with prolific curator and fashion historian Olivier Saillard. The news was initially reported by French newspaper Le Figaro’s cultural supplement Figaroscope, but no further details have been revealed.
Saillard is a known fan of Margiela, having included a coat constructed from blonde wigs from his SS09 collection in the Palais Galliera’s “Anatomy of a Collection” exhibition, which is on show until February 12th. He was also quoted in a recent documentary about the designer titled The Artist Is Absent, saying, “Martin Margiela is different to others because he never compromised his point of view.”
However this retrospective isn’t the only Margiela exhibition on the horizon. In March, Antwerp’s MoMu museum will open a show titled Margiela – The Hermès Years, which will explore the 12 collections he designed for the Parisian house, and their relationship to his own label.
