The house of Maison Martin Margiela is notoriously secret, so secret that there are few who know the identity of founder Martin Margiela. Last year, it was announced that London-based film company Dogwoof was working in collaboration with the designer on a film entitled Without Compromise – set to release later this year, release date TBC.
Before that drops, you can get a glimpse into the mysterious fashion house via a new exhibition opening today in Paris. Entitled La Femme De Cabine – Martin Margiela – 1997-2004 and hosted at Halebopp, the exhibition features photographs taken by Jonathan Hallam of various Margiela employees in Paris from the late 90s through to early 00s.
“I started this series of experiments in photographic portraiture in Paris in 1997 in the 18th arrondissement,” Hallam says. “Working from my apartment, I built a makeshift darkroom in my bathroom.” Using a unique technique of developing the images in Tupperware, there are no negatives, meaning the images displayed are the final and only product.
Curated by Paris-based artist John Saint Michel, the exhibition gives a glimpse into the mysterious house of Margiela, while still remaining true to the anonymity that is at its core. “It is a challenge to create a visual narrative on a system invented by a house that was less about visual domination or identity,” says Saint Michel. “We wanted to piece together a story that incites emotional intelligence and challenges today’s notion of instantaneity, oversharing and the bombardment of visual information.”
In addition to the prints displayed at the exhibition, 100 copies of a limited edition box of prints will also be available.
La Femme De Cabine – Martin Margiela – 1997-2004 is open from June 18-25 from 11am-7pm by appointment only at Halebopp, 70 rue Jean Pierre Timbaud (9, Cour des Fabriques) 75011 Paris, France