Last Monday, Maison Martin Margiela’s show at Paris Haute Couture week, marked the twentieth year of the label. For all this time, the reclusive Belgian founder of the French brand has managed to remain out of the public eye. He never bowed at the end of his shows and the fashion house has maintained that they are a “collective”, representing themselves anonymously in lab coats.
Even as Margiela departed the maison in 2009, the label never announced a successor, and business went on as usual. That is, until last week, when a casual Instagram photo unveiled Matthieu Blazy as the head designer of the brand.
Further digging led Internet journalists to his Instagram and LinkedIn accounts (now both defunct), where he described his job profile as “head designer couture and artisanale line at Maison Martin Margiela”. But since then, Blazy, who has previously worked as senior designer at Raf Simons and interned at Balenciaga and John Galliano, has erased his digital footprint. Quick on the heels of this reveal, Christophe C. – the menswear head designer at Maison Martin Margiela – was discovered.
The company continues to maintain that it is a collective and all work done is by a team. “In light of recent rumours regarding individual members of our design team, we ask you to remember that the long-standing communication policy of the Maison has not changed and that Maison Martin Margiela does not communicate on any individual member of its collective, as our work is done by a team and is credited only to this same collective.”
The ELLE office reacted to the news with shock, quickly followed by denial. Is Renzo Rosso (who now owns Margiela) behind this reveal? We hope not. But if Blazy’s talent, as seen at the latest show is anything to go by, the maison’s couture line is in good hands.
