Top image: Maison Martin Margiela SS09 / photography by Marina Faust

A rare Martin Margiela sighting is arriving in Paris in the form of the legendary designer’s first solo art show – twelve years since removing himself from the public eye.

Taking place at Parisian gallery Lafayette Anticipations, the self-titled exhibition explores Martin Margiela’s “obsession with transformation” – a trait that underscored the Belgian designer’s trailblazing output: famously recycling old garments with revolutionary DIY deconstruction techniques that continue to influence today.

Set to open on 15th April (however, not guaranteed, obviously), the show will feature previously unseen works – many created in the Foundation’s workshop – including sculptures, photographs and installations.

“This exhibition celebrates the idea that Martin Margiela has always been an artist,” said Lafayette Anticipations in an accompanying statement. “[Margiela] has always made us look at things with fresh eyes. Going against the grain he cultivated an obsession for discreet people, abandoned objects and forgotten places and events, bestowing on them a new dignity.”

Briefly breaking his elusiveness, Margiela did recently appear in a candid documentary about the fashion icon by Reiner Holzemer. “He definitely took some convincing,” the director told us in an interview last year, “In the beginning, Martin wasn’t sure that he wanted to have his voice in the movie. But we needed these recordings – so much information about his archive wasn’t public. Martin said he just didn’t like his voice, and when I responded that nobody likes their voice on tape, he said: ‘Oh, you talk like my mother!’”

Martin Margiela will run at Lafayette Anticipations from 15th April – 25th July, 2021.