Martin Margiela

Martin Margiela (; ; born 9 April 1957) is a Belgian fashion designer, artist, and founder of the French luxury fashion house Maison Margiela. Throughout his career, Margiela has maintained a low profile, refusing to grant face-to-face interviews or be photographed. Since leaving fashion in 2008, he has emerged as an artist, exploring the themes that made him an iconic figure in fashion. He is considered to be one of the most influential fashion designers in recent history for his iconic deconstructed, upcycled aesthetic and oversized silhouette.

Early life and education Martin Margiela was born on 9 April 1957 in the city of Genk in Limburg, Belgium. He became interested in fashion as a child after watching a TV show featuring influential 1960s designers André Courrèges and Paco Rabanne. As a teenager, he began putting second-hand clothes from flea markets together to create cheap but stylish looks.

Margiela presented the Spring/Summer 1990 collection in the first show for his eponymous label in the fall of 1989 on a derelict playground in a North African neighborhood on the outskirts of Paris. It was an unusual show with an uneven runway and intentionally stumbling models, which created a public spectacle that shocked the industry. Since 1988, he has never agreed to a formal interview or been photographed for any magazine.

Maison Margiela was acquired by the OTB Group in 2002. No successor was named and the house continued to be operated by a team of designers until John Galliano was appointed as creative director in 2014.

Hermès

Margiela was named creative director of women's wear at Hermès in 1997. The news of an avant-garde designer becoming the head of a conservative and classic French house surprised the industry. Though his designs for Hermès didn't resemble the forward-leaning work of his own label, he nonetheless incorporated a deconstructivist philosophy to his work there. Despite initial doubts by fashion critics, he created several understated collections, from loose-fitting masculine tailoring to black crêpe evening dresses that were the height of discreet elegance. Among the exhibits included silicon spheres covered in human hair, large-scale paintings of dust particles, and blank spaces that symbolized the idea of an exhibition that is "in flux, unfinished, and in permanent movement." He notably explained his withdrawal from the public eye and his desire to remain a designer, rather than "a creative director who directs his assistants". As in most media related to the designer, only Margiela's hands are shown.