Belgian designer Martin Margiela (b. 1957) — whose life, career, and designs for handbags, clothing and shoes have become cult-collector obsessions — pushed those who attended his shows outside their comfort zones. In the years following the 1988 debut of Maison Martin Margiela, he toyed with creative and aesthetic paradoxes that persist in fashion today.
Consider the Spring/Summer 2001 shirt patchworked from vintage clothing labels, or his famous corset dresses made from tailoring dummies, from his Fall/Winter 1997 line. Or his oversize collection for Fall/Winter 2000. In 1992, Margiela told Dépêche Mode magazine, “My clothes appeal to women of a certain mindset rather than of a specific age or physique.”
Born in Genk, Belgium, in 1957, Margiela knew he wanted to be a fashion designer after catching glimpses of Parisian fashion on TV as a child. Although his parents discouraged this career choice as an oddly funny aspiration, Margiela enrolled in the fashion program of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. There, he befriended and graduated a year ahead of the Antwerp Six — the acclaimed group of Belgian fashion designers comprising Dries Van Noten, Walter Van Beirendonck, Ann Demeulemeester, Marina Yee, Dirk Bikkembergs and Dirk Van Saene.
Like many of his contemporaries in the 1980s, Margiela understood Paris fashion but felt a deep resonance with the deconstructed beauty espoused by Japanese designers Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo, of Comme des Garçons. Margiela’s fascination with Japan influenced many of his earliest collections and designs, from a dress pieced together from broken plates to his iconic Tabi boots, inspired by the split-toe Japanese worker’s shoe, which dates back to the 15th century.
Margiela decided to launch his own line while working for renowned Paris designer Jean Paul Gaultier. With Belgian designer Jenny Meirens, Margiela established Maison Martin Margiela in the French capital in 1988.
Margiela’s debut show was nothing short of spectacular. Set in a packed Café de la Gare in the still-seedy Marais district, it was also scandalous to the Parisian fashion set of the time. The designer tore up the conventions of contemporary couture presentations, most notably having his models, plucked from the streets and wearing ink-blotted Tabis, wend their way through the crowd.
The show redefined the concept of the runway in a way that would later inspire such designers as Alexander McQueen and Demna Gvasalia.
While the notoriously private designer retired from fashion in 2009, for many Maison Martin Margiela collectors, his pieces capture the irreverence of the postwar, post-punk late 1980s and ’90s. Katy Rodriguez, cofounder of the cult vintage fashion shop Resurrection, is among those who felt a connection to Margiela’s clothing in the subliminal challenges it posed to the time’s beauty norms.
“Growing up in San Francisco and coming out of the end of punk rock, not wanting to be objectified, not wanting to be seen as a sexual object, not wanting your value to be just because you’re pretty — all those clothes played into all of that,” she says. “It really was a reflection of the kind of world the young people I knew at the time wanted to live in.”
John Galliano was named creative director at the house in 2014 and it rebranded as Maison Margiela in 2015.
Find vintage Maison Martin Margiela boots, evening dresses, jackets and more on 1stDibs.
Maison Martin Margiela Artisanal Brown Vintage Fabric Vest Aw 2000
By Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Resurrection Vintage is thrilled to present a vintage Maison Martin Margiela brown vintage fabric vest constructed from vintage fabric featuring an oversized fit, brown and black two...
F/W 2001 Artisanal Trompe L'oeil Vest
By Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Amsterdam, NH
Maison Martin Margiela F/W 2001 Artisanal trompe l’oeil vest in a sleeveless design.
F/W 1994 Artisanal Sleeveless Knit Vest
By Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Amsterdam, NH
Maison Martin Margiela F/W 1994 sleeveless knit vest featuring a textured knit and clean silhouette. Brand: Maison Martin Margiela Period: 90s Material: Wool Size: S Origin: Made i...
$1,160Sale Price|20% Off
Size: 42 / US 8
Emanuel Ungaro 1990s Tan Suede Leather Size 42 / 8 Dip Hem Vintage 90s Vest Top
By Emanuel Ungaro
Located in San Diego, CA
Stylish late 90s EMANUEL UNGARO tan suede leather sleeveless dip hem vest jacket ! Features the softest most luxurious suede. Three square brass buttons up the front. Pockets at each...
Issey Miyake Oversized Brown Woven Vest
By Issey Miyake
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Resurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Issey Miyake oversized brown woven knit vest with draping front panels. Issey Miyake Size: One Size Knit Excellent Vintage Condi...
Revillon by Rick Owens Sleeveless Brown Mink Ribbon Bolero, FW 2003
By Revillon, Rick Owens
Located in London, GB
Revillon by Rick Owens, Fall-Winter 2003. Sleeveless brown mink-ribbon bolero constructed from narrow lengths of mink assembled into two shaped body sections joined at the centre bac...
MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA Size 40 Heather Grey Taupe V-Neck Formal Vest
By Maison Martin Margiela
Located in San Francisco, CA
MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA vest in a heather grey polyester virgin wool with taupe satin back featuring two flap pockets and button closure with V-neck.Good Pre-Owned Condition. Minor sn...
S/S2009 Ann Demeulemeester runway double breasted bondage vest
By Ann Demeulemeester
Located in Milano, Lombardia
S/S2009 Ann Demeulemeester runway double-breasted bondage vest This S/S2009 Ann Demeulemeester runway vest features a sharply tailored double-breasted construction enriched with the...
Artisanal Martin Margiela Deconstructed Knit Snap Tie Convertible Top c1990
By Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Chicago, IL
With Belgian former fashion designer Martin Margiela's original blank white textural cotton corner-sewn label from the early 1990s visible above the structural hole in the center of the circular knit, this openwork yarn top that is clearly a one-of-a-kind "Line 0" Artisanal garment by Maison Martin Margiela is crocheted from a brown soft animal-hair blend into a see-through changeante pattern recalling a collapsed spiderweb. A prominent European dealer sold a similarly designed but longer deconstructed openwork mohair-blend grey cape that also features a circular knit hole. Its remaining additional tag indicates that it was produced by Margielas' longtime Italian knitter Miss Deanna for the Autumn-Hiver 1993-1994 collection. Further, we have found similar one-of-a-kind Margiela openwork-knit and unraveled pieces, as well as one with oversized snaps like the fasteners on our top, dating back to his 1992 collection. Suggesting that our listing could have been from an even earlier collection, Antwerp fashion museum MoMu featured a pale deconstructed mohair knit sweater dating from 1990 in its major Martin Margiela 20-year retrospective (see our snapshot), which was an exhibition produced in collaboration with the designer during his final year at the house in 2008. Based on other Margiela couture pieces with more than one remaining identification tag, the design of our cardigan without a remaining text tag began as a vintage top collected by Martin Margiela to upcycle or reproduce, and/or it was made-to-order by Miss Deanna before he finished it to some degree with his Paris-based team. Our knit fastens with pompon-tipped yarn ties, along with two signature silver oversized-snap buttons, which most noticeably appeared on Margiela tops in 1994 for a collection that was inspired by toy-doll wardrobes and included human-sized reproductions of actual miniatures. For price comparison, two other Margiela 1990s...
A/W2011 Ann Demeulemeester runway vest
By Ann Demeulemeester
Located in Milano, Lombardia
A/W2011 Ann Demeulemeester runway vest This A/W2011 Ann Demeulemeester runway vest features a deep open-front construction with a sculptural elongated silhouette and buttoned lower ...
GIORGIO ARMANI silk satin brown button front crossover back waistcoat vest IT40
By Giorgio Armani
Located in Hong Kong, NT
GIORGIO ARMANI silk satin brown button front crossover back waistcoat vest IT40 S Reference: AEMA/A00204 Brand: Giorgio Armani Material: Silk Color: Brown Pattern: Solid Closure: But...
rare MAISON MARGIELA 1990 deconstructed padded shoulder cigarette jacket IT40
By Maison Martin Margiela, MM6 Maison Margiela
Located in Hong Kong, NT
rare MAISON MARGIELA 1990 deconstructed padded shoulder cigarette jacket IT40 Reference: TGAS/A06082 Brand: Maison Margiela Designer: Martin Margi...
THE FRANKIE SHOP 2023 Maesa brown asymmetric cut crossover button up vest S
Located in Hong Kong, NT
THE FRANKIE SHOP 2023 Maesa brown asymmetric cut crossover button up vest S Reference: CYVN/A00039 Brand: The Frankie Shop Model: Maesa Material: Polyester Color: Brown Pattern: Soli...
MAISON MARGIELA black wool blend oval grommet pocket vest IT46 S
By MM6 Maison Margiela, Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Hong Kong, NT
MAISON MARGIELA black wool blend oval grommet pocket vest IT46 S Reference: PRWU/A00052 Brand: Maison Margiela Designer: Martin Margiela Material: Wood, Blend Color: Black Pattern: S...
PALOMA WOOL brown linen organic cotton pocketed sleeveless top XS
Located in Hong Kong, NT
PALOMA WOOL brown linen organic cotton pocketed sleeveless top XS Reference: SNKO/A00460 Brand: Paloma Wool Material: Linen, Cotton Color: Brown Pattern: Pinstriped Closure: Zip Extr...
GIORGIO ARMANI Vintage wool longline cutout shoulder crossover vest top IT42 M
By Giorgio Armani
Located in Hong Kong, NT
GIORGIO ARMANI Vintage brown wool longline cutout shoulder crossover vest top IT42 M Reference: AEMA/A00206 Brand: Giorgio Armani Material: Wool Color: Brown Pattern: Solid Closure: ...
