It’s already been eight years since Belgian designer Martin Margiela took a bow from fashion, and yet his legacy has never been so evident as in today’s collections. A good reason for MoMu, the Antwerp fashion museum, to devote an exhibition to him. “We’d already marked the 20th anniversary of his label, but had never celebrated the magnificent collections he designed for Hermès,” explains Kaat Debo, the museum’s director and the curator of the show.
When, in 1997, the venerable brand hired a designer renowned for his avant-gardism and his intelligent deconstruction of everything to do with fashion, the general reaction was one of surprise. Some feared that Hermès’s tradition of excellence would be squandered in a risky revamp attempt. But in fact it was to the definition of luxury itself that Margiela applied all his celebrated radicalism. “He invented a new lifestyle for the Hermès woman,” explains Debo. “Because these were expensive, luxury garments, he wanted to create a very high-quality, timeless wardrobe, all the while offering versatile clothes that could be worn in different ways. He decided to work on a very neutral colour code of black, brown, grey, white, ivory and beige. It was revolutionary, because Hermès was known for its prints and bright colours. He also put on fashion shows in the Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré boutique so that clients could see close up the very high quality of these anti-spectacular clothes.”
While Margiela has long been labelled “conceptual”, the MoMu show reminds us of the love of clothing that underpinned his vision, and brings out all the richness of its many facets. While Margiela may have been imitated a thousand times, he’s never once been equalled.
Margiela. The Hermès Years, ModeMuseum Antwerp, 31 March–27 August, www.momu.be
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