MaisonMargiela/Folders

In September 2000, we opened our first-ever store in a residential suburb of Tokyo called Ebisu. The store, Maison Margiela Tokyo Ebisu, was established in a traditional home. 20 years ago in 2006, the store had to be relocated. We chose a building just a five-minute walk away, at 2-8-13 Ebisu Minami – a former electrical products factory. This store is of huge significance to us. The location of Ebisu itself, the community surrounding the store, and unconventional but intentional decisions to repurpose existing elements speak to the most formative elements of our identity. It retains the memory of how we first presented our collections to the world.

Our haute couture collection that refers to garments, accessories, and objects made by hand by our team. Introduced in 1989 and recognised by the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in 2012, Artisanal is Line 0 of our numeric coding and is the origin of the Maison’s creative language.

Anonymity is one of our foundational principles. Despite the unmistakable stamp of identity in his work, our founder Martin Margiela preferred an incognito approach to design, with masks emerging from this ethos. First introduced in the debut show of 1988, a fine fabric veil shifted attention from the model to the garment. Reinterpreted through the years, veils, wigs, make-up, mouthpieces and masks have evolved from our core philosophy into a creative language and framework for innovation and experimentation.

The Tabi is the house's first shoe design, presented during our first collection in 1988. Inspired by a 15th century Japanese sock design, cut to follow the contour of the foot.

Bianchetto is our white overpaint technique that leaves visible brush strokes and transforms surface into a blank canvas. The white overpaint is an extension of white as a house code. It is applied to garments, objects and interiors, the paint will naturally crack and fade over time, gradually revealing visible signs of use.