Martin Margiela is a living paradox; he is one of the most influential, vital designers of recent times yet remains a complete enigma – no post-show bows, communiqué by fax only and no existing photos. His retrospective, Maison Martin Margiela 20 arrives at Somerset House this week and dissects the Belgian designer’s 20-year visionary repertoire.

Considered by many as the token 7th member of the infamous and iconic Antwerp 6 (kinda like fashion's 5th Beatle) except our elusive anti-hero radically shaped the fashion landscape far more than his Antwerpian peers. Launching his Maison Martin Margiela line in 1988, Margiela employed a deconstructivist, abstract approach, often subverting found objects into couture like items.

As humourous as it was often perplexing, some of Margiela’s trademark anti-luxury motifs range from raggedy threadbare denim, trompe l’oeil, visible hems and lining to coats constructed from wigs and tinsel. So far, so conceptual, but there was always a deeper intellectualism at play. His aesthetic swam against the tide of 80's power dressing, instead, chiming with the mood of early 90's grunge and striking a chord amongst those longing for an ostentation antithesis.

Margiela’s theme of anonymity extended right through to the Maison’s ‘anti-branding’ numbered coding system in their labels. Each label had a circled number representing which of the eleven lines a garment was from – the only tell-tale to those in the know were the four signature white label stitches visible on the rear of a garment. Inconspicuous consumption for an enlightened elite.

Maison Martin Margiela 20 began in Antwerp, later moving to Munich, is far more than a simple, ‘here’s a clothes timeline’. The multi-layered experience incorporates, film, photography and video installations. “What is so special about the exhibition,” explains Somerset House curator, Claire Catterall, “is that it’s not a classic retrospective or chronological in any way, it’s much more about what occurs in the Maison’s work. So what they’ve done is unpick the themes in a really intelligent way.”

Go to any Margiela store or show and you’re greeted with an overwhelming clinicism. All staff wear identity-stifling lab-coats, stores and showrooms swaddled in white fabric – eliminating any element of personality and ensuring sterility and a sense of unity and oneness prevails. “The first thing in the exhibition you come across” says Catterall, “are cut-out polystyrene portraits of the Maison, and the point is the Maison are a collective - very much a ‘we’ and not an ‘I’. They answer questions as a ‘we’ and are very anti the cult of personality.”

The Maison elaborate; “We often compare our way of working to the building of a wall: everyone brings a stone and eventually the wall is built. And everyone needs to bring the stone, otherwise the wall collapses. Everyone has a role within the team, but everyone also has a voice within that team. This is one of the reasons why Martin never appeared publicly, as we all know that if he would have, the light would have been on him, and without him in the light, the message would be different: the work is the collaboration of a team and not just about one single individual.”

Margiela himself quietly vacated the Maison over the last two years – no specific date was given, yet a formal announcement was made last October. No one has been appointed as a replacement (testament to his lingering code of democracy) and today the 70-strong Maison operate from the Paris HQ sans creative director, remaining as stoic and almost as united as ever: “The creative process has not changed as the team has always been at the heart of everything the Maison has expressed since it has been created in 1988. Our intentions are intact and that is what keeps us genuine.”

After a critically less-than-well received S/S ’10 collection which rung something like a confused redux of a greatest hits collection, the Maison are getting their groove back with a praised A/W ‘10/’11 one. Catterall doesn’t believe his absence will impact the house however, “I think certainly the Maison know that Martin left without any great fanfare and he didn’t think he was the actual creative talent so in that sense I don’t think it makes much difference.”

Margiela shows take place in the most obscure places, the white lab-coated staff could be ushering you in to a morgue or abandoned Metro station. I was at the A/W 08’ show (rumoured to be his last) in a cramped Parisian sports arena – everywhere draped in clear polythene, until a small sliver was peeled away pre-show to create the runway. With a wall-of-noise soundtrack, the mood is always intense and purposely unnerving – totally at odds to Chanel at the Grand Palais for example.

Spring 2010 saw the launch of the first MMM fragrance, Untitled (what else?) prompting a few cynics to whisper, “sell-out,” yet the Maison remain justifiably defensive about the brands diversification into other areas; “What we aim at is following our instinct and passion and pursuing expressing our creative vision. Fashion and interior design have always been part of Maison Martin Margiela since Line 13 [objects and publications] was introduced in 1999. Over the years, architectural and art projects plus store openings deepened our expression of interior design. Editing our 2008 book and finding a way to express ourselves with a fragrance, is again, us following our instinct. More to come later…”

Posted on June 02, 2010 at 2:40:43 by The Real Runway