Maison Margiela is a fashion house founded in 1988 by Belgian designer Martin Margiela. The Paris-based house is synonymous with uniquely unconventional principles, and a philosophy in which deconstruction and heritage go hand in hand to create designs that showcase fashion as an art of meaning rather than a cult of personality. John Galliano was named Creative Director in 2014, bringing his sense of spectacle and creative mastery to the unique ethos of the house. Maison Margiela crosses the fashion spectrum from its ‘Artisanal’ collection, which holds the “Haute Couture” appellation since 2012, through ready-to-wear and accessories. Maison Margiela became part of OTB in 2022.
Conception is a fusion of elements: the splicing of genetics, ideas and characteristics into a new expression. For the 2023 Co-Ed Collection, Maison Margiela conceives a multi-layered premise inspired by the procreation of Count and Hen, the fugitive protagonists introduced in its Artisanal 2022 proposal, Cinema Inferno. Imagining the lovechild the pair was expecting when we left them in July 2022 – on the run and trapped in a filmic loop – Creative Director John Galliano melds their stylistic natures into an individual aesthetic. The offspring of the Count’s aristocratic influence and the false pretensions of Hen’s upbringing, it is a cross-pollination embodied by the contemporary spirit of young rebels with a conscience.
An illustration of the pyramidical structure of Maison Margiela – where the haute couture experimentation of the Artisanal Collection informs the ready-to-wear of the Co-Ed Collection and all its other lines – the story takes place within its new 16e arrondissement headquarters at 12 Place des États-Unis.
In a study of hand-me-downs and the gestures that imbue garments with life, the practice of dressing in haste is applied to bias-cut dresses hacked up and spontaneously fixed into rompers, coining the technique of rompage. Plaid shirts created with ®Pendleton and are worn back-to-front – an exercise echoed in coats and cardigans – and garments epitomic to haute couture or formal menswear cultures subverted through splicing and customization. Employing the technique of freeze-framing, silhouettes render in tulle the movement of sculptural party dresses captured in mid-century photography. Sunglasses and spectacles used throughout the collection herald Maison Margiela’s new line of eyewear created with Gentle Monster.
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