MM it's first and foremost a lengthy silouhette that came out of Kiraz comic strip. A man of a few words, discrete, unhabited, dressed in black and anthracite and often hidden under a linen cap.
MM is also a master dressmaker. Flawless and sober cuts, luxurious fabrics in all simplicity, gracefully undone hems , sublimated flaws, colors as malancholic as the north.
MM is mainly a visionary, lover of the unmarked garnment, unfaced mannequin, of a timeless fashion without the name-dropping diktats. His name never appears on the labels. MM is invisible, elsewhere, unclassifiable.
Géraldine Maillet(writer and director)


SCENOGRAPHY / TROMPE-L’OEIL

The concept for the scenography of the exhibition is inspired by Maison Martin Margiela’s frequent use of trompel’oeil, not only in its collections, but also in its photography and its office and store interiors. The optical illusionsare moreover reinforced by the use of mirrors, multiplying their labyrinthine character. In the Parisian headquarters of the Maison, that particular use of the trompel’oeil is especially conspicuous. Most of the doors are decorated with photocopied pictures of other doors, producing a black-and-white graphic aesthetic that also has the look and feel of street posters.

In the Maison Martin Margiela shops, optical illusions are generated with black-and-white photographs of the interiors of their previous office spaces on the rue du Faubourg Poissonnière, an 18th-century Hotel particulier. The rooms of this building, including such details as baroque mirrors, marble mantelpieces, decorative frames and rosettes, were photographed before the Maison moved to their current location on rue Saint Maur. This way, Margiela and his team carry their own history with them to each new location or store. In other words, the frequent presence of trompe l’oeil has proven an outstanding metaphor for Maison Martin Margiela’s complex relationship with time and history. The Fashion Museum has decided to reinterpret this remarkable working method by creating optical illusions with enlarged details of our own exhibition space.