Orange & White, a new fancy SUSAN BIJL colour combination? No, these are the colours that guide you through the ‘Margiela, the Hermès years’ exposition at Antwerp’s MoMu. The show gives a fascinating overview of the Belgian designer’s clever and radical approach to fashion, in his work both for iconic fashion institute Hermès (orange) and his own maison.
Fashion isn’t a subject we touch upon often on our blog. That’s quite funny for a fashion/design brand like ourselves, huh? Maybe it’s because it’s so normal for us, that we hardly see it as an inspiration any more? Or maybe we just didn’t find the right reason yet to share our love for fashion with you? This all changes now. Thanks to the MoMu in Antwerp and their beautiful exposition ‘Margiela, the Hermès years’.
We love Martin Margiela. His take on fashion, playing with archetypes and classics (do we dare to recognize our own work in this?), proves that you don’t need to push boundaries in order to be a rebel. This is perfectly portrayed by the white anonymous label with the trademark four stitches that Maison Martin Margiela uses. An almost introvert, yet brutal protest against the logo craze that dominated the fashion scene in the nineties.
From 1997 to 2003 Martin Margiela was responsible for the female prêt-a-porter collections of legendary French fashion institute Hermès. It’s around this period that the exhibition at MoMu revolves. It’s absolutely fascinating to see how his vision of a slowly evolving fashion that adapts to the body, instead of forcing itself onto it, was a powerful foreshadowing of fashion to come and truly revolutionized the fashion world. Oversized archetypes? Margiela did it first. Slow fashion? Margiela paved the way. Non-typical models? “Been there, done that,” Martin would say. The list goes on and on.
The people at MoMu have done an outstanding job at setting up a show that captivates you from the moment you step in and that leads you through it as if you’re in the midst of a fascinating documentary. The exposition is informative, inspiring and mirrors the clean yet truly original approach or Margiela in a perfect way.
You can catch ‘Margiela, the Hermès years’ at MoMu this week till August 27th. Don’t miss it!