When the Margiela invitation reached its intended victims, a can of white paint (a long-standing fixation of Martin Margiela) revealed itself and oddly pointed to a destination show for once. Glenn Martens went slightly off-pattern (and not in the textile sense), merging the maison’s ready-to-wear and Αrtisanal collections into one, all while dumping Parisian calendars for a bit of foreign air.
Shanghai Fashion Week started on April fools with Maison Margiela taking us to a shipyard a little off the city’s map, where colorful, but dull, containers are stacked on top of each other, some even bearing the Temu logo. The naked ones were open, forced to double as front row seats. “A Parisian flea market comes to life, after hours. On the outskirts of the city is a world within a world, a place of rituals and obsessions, where curiosities are made to be repurposed and made new,” stated the maison.
Going off-script while staying rooted can’t be easy. But it felt so. 19th-century porcelain dolls became a dress of 90 kilos, making its presence very known across the rough cement beneath. Layers of organza were pushed so far they barely registered as fabric anymore. Of course, masks here covered the faces, but not entirely, the almost lifeless, doll-like makeup still showed through. Some garments looked like a beige second skin, while others looked entirely unfinished. The Bianchetto treatment, Edwardian silhouettes, gold leaf, even tapestries, were all part of the 76-look lineup.
Post-runway, Maison Margiela spreads across four cities in short-lived exhibitions. Shanghai (April 2-6) hosts ‘Artisanal: Creative Laboratory,’ focusing on couture from 1989 to 2025. Beijing (April 7-12) gets ‘Anonymity: Our History of Masks,’ a classic brand code, much like the split-toe shoes Chengdu showcases (April 9-13) in ‘Tabi: Collectors Exhibition.’ And finally, Shenzhen (April 11-12) presents ‘Bianchetto: Atelier Experience,’ where guests are invited to cover their own clothes in white paint, a ritual the Maison started back in 1988.
