Martin Margiela
Martin Margiela was born in 1957 in Henk, Belgium. After graduating from the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts, he studied under Jean-Paul Gaultier and founded Maison Martin Margiela with Jenny Meirens in 1988. He was the brand's designer for the next 20 years. Martin Margiela's creations continue to anticipate contemporary trends, and with their many conceptually related creations, he has done a great deal to lay the foundations for current fashion trends and has had a profound influence on many fashion designers to this day. Margiela's philosophy is based on the antithesis of the traditional mode, deconstructing the way luxury brands are and have always been conceived. The brand incorporates many ideological concepts into its creations, such as inside-out, flat garments, oversizing and replicas, and its collections and fashion shows are regarded as high quality conceptual art, subverting conventional ways of being. The brand continues to be created by John Galliano and has achieved great commercial success, but the pieces designed by Martin Margiela himself have gained an increasing reputation in recent years as an archive with an associated historical value.