Glenn Martens Makes a Bold Entrance at Maison Margiela
The Belgian designer’s first Artisanal collection masterfully blended Margiela’s avant-garde codes with his own irreverent, modern edge.
“I knew he was the right guy to give a new step to Margiela,” said Renzo Rosso of Glenn Martens’s Maison Margiela Artisanal debut. Rosso is the founder of OTB, the parent company of myriad brands including Margiela and Diesel, the latter of which Martens has helmed since 2020. And, standing in a balloon field at the show’s after-party, he said that he’s delighted with his choice to install Martens as John Galliano’s successor at Margiela. “We got the brand DNA, but he worked with modernity to bring Margiela to the new generation,” said Rosso. That’s not just PR-approved fluff. Martens’s first collection for this beloved, esoteric brand was indeed a beautifully balanced blend of his signature aesthetic and house codes.
Martens, a John Paul Gaultier protégé, launched his eponymous label in 2012, just before taking over Y/Project in 2013, where he gained a devoted and utterly avant-garde cult following. Combining technical prowess, conceptual wit, and an acute understanding of desire, he elevated that brand to international acclaim and won the prestigious ANDAM Prize in 2017. Rosso was among the judges and clocked Martens’s once-in-a-generation talent.
Rosso’s bet on Martens has paid off. Not only has the designer’s tenure at Diesel, where he remains creative director, boosted profits, but his Margiela debut was an emotionally charged triumph that spoke to Martens and Margiela devotees alike. Set to the somber tune of the Smashing Pumpkins’ 1994 song “Disarm,” the lineup combined couture tropes and streetwear stalwarts—corseting, hoodies, denim (but hand-painted), immaculate embellishment, and the like. It also featured prints derived from 16th- and 17th-century Flemish and Dutch masters (a Martens signature) with intricate masks (a Margiela signature), upcycled, often patchworked materials, and outsize gowns worthy of the most decadent galas. A crumpled, algae-green iteration, reminiscent of the guest haute couture collection Martens designed for Gaultier for spring 2022, was particularly impactful. Ditto for the deftly draped jersey numbers, which were meant to conjure wet marble sculptures.
The show space, located in the wildly out-of-the-way 19th arrondissement, was the same in which Martin Margiela showed his final collection in 2008. Plastered with peeling paper, it evoked many of the Margiela sets of yore, while lending the experience a gritty edge that Martens has long embraced. Another similarity worth noting? Mr. Margiela and Martens are both Belgian, and both graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. They’ve enjoyed a curiously parallel trajectory, and both champion upcycling and the unexpected.
From the music to the remarkable handcraft to the impactful materials and silhouettes, Martens’s hotly anticipated Margiela debut was among the best—if not the best—outing this haute couture season. The designer, who mingled with fawning guests during an after-party infused with gaggles of brightly colored balloons, seemed nothing less than jubilant. His joy was infectious—and hard-earned. Can Martens keep up the momentum with his forthcoming first ready-to-wear collection for the brand? The pressure is high, but this outing—and his track record—bode well for his future at Margiela.
