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Maison Margiela

Maison Martin Margiela is no more, as the label has quietly rebranded as Maison Margiela, dropping the first name of its eponymous founder.

The name change “reflects the evolution of the house”, a spokesperson for Maison Margiela told the New York Times, also revealing that the rebrand “applies to the brand as a whole, not just the Artisanal collection.

The new name of the brand, which has been known as Maison Martin Margiela since its inception in 1988, coincided with John Galliano’s debut couture collection. However, typically of a brand that prefers discretion over loud declarations, no announcement was made, leaving fashion journalists to notice for themselves from the hugely coveted invitations that were sent out for the show. It isn’t the first time that a luxury rebrand has taken place. When Hedi Slimane took over as creative director at Yves Saint Laurent, the “Yves” was promptly dropped, albeit eliciting a much stronger response than has been seen thus far from the Margiela shake-up. Digging up the past Known as one of the most conceptual, unusual and elusive designers of his generation, Martin Margiela launched his label Maison Martin Margiela with Jenny Meirens. The designers’ refusal to be photographed and insistence on communicating with the media by fax only, became the brand’s trademark. With oversized volumes, exposed hems, visible stitches, recycled materials, monochrome fabrics, logo-less clothing and unusual interior designs, the universe of Maison Martin Margiela is unlike any other.

In the 1990s, Maison Martin Margiela launched several collections. He invented a clever system to classify and identify each collection in May 1997. Each item has a white label with a circled number between 0 and 23 , which corresponds to the item’s collection. The 0 is circled if the clothing collection is handmade, six for womenswear, ten for menswear, 22 for  shoes and 13 for accessories and collectibles. Between 1998 and 2003, the designer worked as the artistic director at Hermes.  This collaboration pushed Maison Martin Margiela from the insider scene to the world spotlight. Within six years the label grew from seven employees to a few dozen and opened multiple boutiques in all big capitals of the world. In 2003 Maison Martin Margiela was purchased by the Diesel founder, Renzo Rosso, who became the major shareholder of the label. In December 2009, the departure of Martin Margiela from his company was made official. Ever since, a creative design team whose identities are carefully kept secret, work collaboratively to design collections. In 2010, collection 3 – Perfumes – was launched by Maison Martin Margiela who launched his first fragrance in the spring of that year, (Untitled). We are delighted to announce that from ‪#‎FW15‬ Azzurro Due will present Maison Margiela! * Kate Moss in Maison Margiela Couture, picture by Paolo Roversi for W Magazine April 2015.