MARTIN MARGIELA 1

A master of curious intrigue, Martin Margiela has always been loved as an avant-garde artisan and lauded as a conceptual fashion artist. The intensely secretive and private Belgian designer has maintained mysterious anonymity over two decades, with his blank-branded clothes from numerically numbered collections amassing a cult-like global following. A graduate from the prestigious Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts, he launched the Maison Martin Margiela brand in 1988. As one of the leading pioneers of the deconstructionist fashion movement of the 1980s, Margiela simultaneously satirised fashion while showing his deep admiration for it. Presenting ranges for men and women, plus footwear and accessories, his superior avant-garde sensibility blends innovation, ingenuity and wearability. With radical vision, he is renowned for channelling his ideas into witty fashion statements that favour superior cutting techniques and unparalleled, tailored design. At end-2009, it was announced that the head honcho had officially stepped down, leaving his legacy with the design team at the house of Maison Martin Margiela.

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