This summer, London’s Somerset House is proud to host Maison Martin Margiela ’20’ The Exhibition; a major exhibition celebrating 20 years of one of contemporary fashion’s most influential and enigmatic designers.
Young as its history is, no other fashion house has had quite the same impact on our understanding of fashion and its relationship to history, craft, commerce and innovation. 20 years on, Maison Martin Margiela’s radical questioning and rethinking of what fashion is, how we clothe the body and ideals of human beauty, is still as groundbreaking as ever. This multi-layered exhibition captures Margiela’s one-of-a-kind aesthetic and vision spanning the past two decades, by incorporating installations, photography, video and film.
The show provides an opportunity to learn more about the brand and its philosophy through a visual examination of themes that underpin the essence of the fashion house since its creation – from its deconstructivist, subversive design aesthetic and avant-garde couture to its understated branding, unusual boutique interiors and ‘trompe-l’oeil’ or optical illusion and its couture atelier white coats. Various iconic pieces from both the women and menswear collections will be on display, such as the highly replicated ‘Tabi’ boots, as well as specially recreated garments for the exhibition.
Conceived in close collaboration with Maison Martin Margiela and curated by the Mode Museum, Antwerp, the show makes its London debut where it will be specially reconfigured for the Embankment Galleries, following critical acclaim at the MoMu, Antwerp and Haus der Kunst, Munich last year.
A graduate of Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Martin Margiela formerly worked as design assistant to Jean Paul Gaultier before showing his first collection under his own label in 1988. Employing a ‘deconstructivist’ approach – monochromatic palette, outsized garments, non-traditional fabrics, the use of recycled materials and exposing the construction of his clothes – Margiela displayed a radically new visual language that diametrically opposed the power dressing of the 1980s. Often referred to as the seventh member of the “Antwerp Six,” Margiela early on decided to let his fashion speak for itself and remain anonymous. As a result, Margiela as a brand is driven by product and sheer invention rather than fad, hype and celebrity often linked to other fashion labels.
Visitor details below. And if you’d like an abbreviated walk-through of the exhibit, take a look at Somerset House’s video below!
MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA ‘20’ THE EXHIBITION
Now through September 5th
An exhibition at Somerset House, London:
Somerset House Embankment Galleries, Stand, London, WC2R 1LA
Open daily 10.00 to 18.00.
Tickets: Adult £6, Concessions £5, Under 12s Free
For further information, call 020 7845 4600
*Images courtesy of Somerset House.
