Maison Margiela by Martin Margiela (b. 1957)
Artisanal Margiela (FW01-02) Pullover Top
By: Andrew Yi/@Anzhu_yi
Posted: 08/09/2021
A graduate of Belgium’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, designer Martin Margiela is best known for his radical restatement of traditional fashion designs. After working under Jean Paul Gaultier, Margiela founded his own label in 1988. Margiela’s designs move beyond the recognizable tropes of deconstruction. Garments utilize a monochromatic palette, non-traditional fabrics, exposed seams, and or roughly appliqued details.
Upcycling and deconstruction is at the core of Margiela’s design ethos; especially garments from its artisanal line. Margiela launched his first menswear collection in 1998, known as line (10). Every new product range was given a number from 0 to 23, which acts as a reference code. These ranges have expanded to include fine jewelry (12), footwear (22), eyewear (8), objects (13), and fragrances (3). (010) sought to create artisanal garments by utilizing vintage, antique, and or hand selected fabrics. Men’s artisanal pieces are distinguished by a (0) and (10) circled on the neck tag while women’s pieces only have (0) circled. Due to the laborious process required to create these garments, very few were placed into circulation.
The results were pieces that served as the foundation for Margiela’s core designs for years to come. Due to the nature of the artisanal line’s design ethos, each piece has slight variations from one another because of the handmade aspect of each garment.
Featured here is a pullover shirt from Fall/Winter 2001-2002. This garment features a cotton-blend shirt with wool sleeves from a knit sweater.
