Fashion Revolutionary Martin Margiela Endeavors into the Art World

Martin Margiela’s conceptual world unfolds in layers—what is shown, what that represents, and of course, what it all means. The former fashion designer’s conceptual approach is reflected in his artwork, as he fully reimagines the world around us. In his first solo exhibition, Martin Margiela traces to the core of the artist’s creative spirit. Just open at Lafayette Anticipations Foundation in Paris, the multimedia showcase highlights more than 40 previously unseen paintings, sculptures, installations, and films, all baring Margiela’s signature focus on materiality and form.

In the exhibit, ideas of time, chance, mystery, and aura are essential as the artist finds wonder in what can otherwise go unnoticed. Oft-cited themes of his design work—upcycling, anatomy, hair, and skin—recur and place form at the center of his art. “Martin Margiela’s exhibition is the result of a lifetime devoted to transforming the way we see things, transcending the obvious, revealing the overlooked, and celebrating complexity,” curator Rebecca Lamarche-Vadel tells L’OFFICIEL. “Margiela has always been an artist. Though he is known for his work in fashion, he consistently broke with convention, inventing new rituals, new sensibilities, and new ways of being.”

Fittingly, for this showcase, Margiela devises a space outside the realm of expectation. Works such as the abstract female portrait “Vanitas” touch on the passage of time, while “Torso” and “Cartography” offer fragmented views of our aesthetic makeup. “Dust Cover” and “Mould” are self-evident structures that question their own functions—what they protect and resemble, and more importantly, how and why. “[Margiela] wanted to create an experience that would be both surprising and confusing, whether the works were revealed at a glance or in a certain perspective,” shares Lamarche-Vadel. “He creates a place of wandering where scattered works become characters, clues that appear and disappear as the exhibition progresses.”

In fact, since his youth, Margiela has long held an affinity for art. Born in Genk, Belgium in 1957, an initial interest in drawing led him to attend Sint-Lukas Kunsthumaniora art school. He went on to study fashion at Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts, where he graduated just ahead of the famed design collective, the Antwerp Six. Then Margiela worked with style legend Jean Paul Gaultier, before forging his own legacy with his eponymous label, Maison Martin Margiela. With a postmodern approach, he deconstructed and re-envisioned garments in new shapes with unfinished seams, exposed threads, and visible linings to emphasize the atelier process—as well as to question the idea of fashion altogether.

In his singular style, innovative materials were a mainstay of Margiela’s designs, and shape and proportion were often exaggerated and wholly reworked. Within his endless imagination, the avant-garde becomes a tradition in its own right. “His conceptual approach involved pushing the limitations of clothing to create improbable surreal pieces: a jacket made of collaged gloves, a ‘hair’ jacket, a trench coat made from belts, for example. In making something ludicrous, he eschews the possibility for it to be recreated,” says Lamarche-Vidal. “He was the first designer to introduce recycling in his creations, using army socks, broken crockery, flea market clothing, and plastic packaging, among other things. His outfits show signs of wear and tear and his fashion often goes beyond the boundaries of clothing. The locations chosen for his fashion shows are equally unconventional: an abandoned metro station, an SNCF warehouse, and a vacant lot that has become legendary.”

In spite of his notoriously private persona, Margiela went on to build one of the most successful labels in contemporary fashion history. Then, 20 years after founding his acclaimed Maison—and arguably, at the height of his career—the designer left the industry, abruptly and entirely. In the decade since, he has refocused his creative expression beyond the confines of fashion. Many of the same traits that shone through his style sensibilities are now echoed in his artwork. 

“Margiela invites us to look at the world in a new way. It is against the current of dominant contemporary values that Margiela cultivates an obsession for subtle beings, neglected objects, unnoticed places, and events,” remarks Lamarche-Vadal. “His work brings attention to discreet things and their ability to shape our experiences of the world. Margiela’s entire oeuvre has been about the art of attention. It is about recognizing the performance of the living, its fragments, and its passages.”