Maison Martin Margiela 20, until 8 February, 2009
This year Martin Margiela, one of the most unique and prominent Belgian fashion designers, looks back at twenty years in the fashion industry; the exhibition currently on view at MoMu, the Antwerp Museum of Fashion, could also be considered an original birthday cake. One of the legendary "Antwerp six", the designer has always made a point of not gracing his fashion shows with a personal appearance in front of the public and not giving any interviews; asking for his picture means demonstrating poor taste. There just is no picture.
All liaising by the fashion house with the outside world is always done from first person plural; all statements are always signed by "us". The principle is clearly demonstrated by the 3-D installation opening the celebratory show: it features the whole team of the fashion house (with the exception of the designer himself), and yet not a single person is identified - only their respective countries of extraction are listed. The fashion house has always made a big point of the fact that its staff includes representatives of 16 nations. Its concept has likewise remained unaltered since the opening day: the only thing they wish to stand out is the fashion they create. Margiela is a refined analyst and confirmed intellectual of fashion; his knowledge of the history of clothing is almost encyclopaedic. The underlying principle of the designer's style is deconstruction: taking apart the existing (the conventional) and putting the parts back together - to suit his own concept.
In his collections Margiela takes the liberty of challenging and defying quite a few "sacred cows" of the fashion industry, for instance, the perpetual change of trends and insatiable hunger for novelty. Quite the contrary, the underlying principle of Margiela's style has always been the passage of time and a sort of patina, achieved by deliberately including in each new collection a few elements from the previous ones, as well as by availing of things stumbled upon at flea markets, thus giving these objects and trends a new life, a sense of continuation.
Nothing is what it looks like, no concept is ever unconditional - there is always another way of looking at anything; both Margiela's collections and the design of his stores - completely white, ostensibly anonymous and yet so very personal - an extension of his fashion philosophy in a way, stay true to the principle. Margiela's favourite effect of optical illusion is featured in the set design of his celebratory exhibition: photographs, created as reflections of various details of the exhibition set-up, strategically placed in various parts of the room; a mirror-floor seemingly adding an extra dimension - an opportunity to look at the world (fashion) from a completely different angle.
28 Nationalestraat
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