[softgrey]

Published: Thursday, September 08, 2005

Margiela Opens Shop in Paris
By Robert Murphy

PARIS — The latest fruit of edgy Belgian designer Martin Margiela's alliance with Diesel owner Renzo Rosso is a shop in one of the chicest shopping streets here.
The 1,500-square-foot unit on the Left Bank's Rue de Grenelle is Margiela's third in the City of Light.
Margiela plans to open a shop in New York in the West Village by month's end, and is mulling a location for Milan for next year.
This fall, the house also unveiled new men's and women's shoe and accessories lines.

There is no nameplate above the door, formerly home to Martine Sitbon, and though a bit more soigné than some of his shops, the interior still has Margiela's "work in progress" aesthetic.
The interior is painted the house's signature white, floor to ceiling. A demolished wall with a window in it is left exposed, and rolls of white vinyl flooring covering the back of the shop are suspended against the wall as in a hardware shop.
A white awning — a reference to a hotel entrance — stretches along a wall and onto the sidewalk, with three silver bellhop trolleys used to display Margiela's new line of bags and luggage. Nearby, the shell of a Seventies phone booth — painted over in white — is bolted to the wall.
In the middle is an elevated concert platform, which shoppers climb to peruse Margiela's women's fashion collection, 1. It is displayed amid rock paraphernalia, including microphones and a fake spotlight painted on the floor.
Behind the structure, Margiela has plastered life-size photographs of the ornate doors in his old headquarters on the wall of the dressing room, to create an illusion that a spokesman for the house says "brings a bit of the past into the new shop."
Men's wear is featured in the back of the store, with Margiela's pricy, more classic women's collection, known as 4.

excerpt from wwd.com

[faust]

Huh? I thought he had one in Paris already. Is that a 2nd one?

He's definitely in for a tough competition in New York. Way too many stores carry him

[softgrey]

faust...
as it says in the article...
this is his third shop in 'the city of light'...



they will obviously pull out of other stores once they open their own...
as the profit margin is much greater for them if they sell at retail rather than wholsesale...

[kus]

was in his shop on rue de montpensier couple weeks ago.
nice people working, cool decor.
moment of peace in paris.

[faust]

Quote:

Originally Posted by softgrey faust... as it says in the article... this is his third shop in 'the city of light'... they will obviously pull out of other stores once they open their own... as the profit margin is much greater for them if they sell at retail rather than wholsesale...

Oh, I missed that .

I don't know about pulling out of other stores - do they really want to break a relationship with such powerplayers as Barneys, Bergdorf, and Jeffrey? And IF has been Margiela's biggest supporter since day one (not that Rosso cares about that).

I guess they could pull out of Jeffrey, since they only buy a few menswear pieces and keep the rest of the stores away geographically by opening in West Village. I was hoping for a Tribeca location - seems much more like a Margiela area to me.

[Scott]

Three? Do you mean the second being the men's shop on Montpensier next to the women's? I never even heard about a second one

[helena]

Nouvel espace Martin Margiela Relooking total blanc pour la boutique Martin Margiela, désormais identifiable par une marquise façon NY ouverte sur la rue. Verrières dévoilées, espace ciné-rock, trompe l’œil photographique. On y trouve les lignes homme et femme (dont Replica), les pièces uniques de la ligne artisanale : une réussite monochrome.
Martin Margiela, 13, rue de Grenelle, 75007 Paris.
PG

from www.vogue.fr

[Caffeine]

thanks softie.
Where will be the store in NYC? somewhere in soho?

[faust]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caffeine thanks softie. Where will be the store in NYC? somewhere in soho?

word is they can't find a suitable location. if i know anything about margiela, i really doubt it will be in soho. maybe on its fringes somewhere...

[purechris]

west village sounds like meatpacking to me......which I could see happening

[helena]

^^^whats up with soho faust?

[faust]

Quote:

Originally Posted by helena ^^^whats up with soho faust?

Because it's largely become (I'm in a graphic mood today)



Rei saw this first and she fled to Chelsea. Others saw it later, and bam - you have the meatpacking district.

When you come you will see a large amount of closed doors in Soho (one block alone housed Helmut Lang, Helmut Lang Parums, Vivienne Westwood, Bagutta, Pleins Sud - ALL CLOSED WITHING TWO YEARS). In large part (except Helmut, I guess) that is because the real state owners are getting so incredibly greedy that it's only the big names that can afford paying rent in Soho.

Knowing Margiela's quirky off-beat mind, I doubt that's where he'd want to open a store. First rumour was Tribeca, which I think is still the most alluring location (lots of rich gallery-owner types that love Margiela for the obvious reason that by buying his clothing they are both "in-the-know" while still looking "intellectual" ), now the rumour is West Village, which I think Chris is right, will be in the part that is very close to the meatpacking district. The geography of that location is right, because basically you have the meatpacking district and soho which are vey hot, and the best pedestrian shortcut between them is through the West Village via Bleecker street. Marc Jacobs saw this first, and so he positioned his two Marc stores there. This lured other stores too (Ralph Lauren, Intermix, Synthia Rowely, etc..).

Another obvious location for the Margiela store is next to Comme des Garcons - it would be perfect. I think Margiela draws a similar crowd, and just like Rei, he should not be afraid to become a shopping destination (let's face it, an average tourist won't bother walking into such a store, and those who want it will be willing to go out of ther way).

I should be working as a research analyst in fashion, instead of finance.

[helena]

thanks faust....good input there.... i am sure it will make sense soon enough. I agree his customers will seek him out wherever he is i suspect.

[Caffeine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by faust Another obvious location for the Margiela store is next to Comme des Garcons - it would be perfect. I think Margiela draws a similar crowd, and just like Rei, he should not be afraid to become a shopping destination (let's face it, an average tourist won't bother walking into such a store, and those who want it will be willing to go out of ther way). I should be working as a research analyst in fashion, instead of finance.

Agree. Faust, you are a finance research analyst? (and yet you've got time hanging out here on tFS )

No you should be working on real estate for a fashion house. I totally agree on what you've said regarding the location.I love that neighborhood.

slightly off the topic, My major is real estate finance and I found it hard to land a job in a fashion house working on real estate...I only have one friend who just joined Banana Republic working on the real estate/sales analysis team. I found it quite interesting.

I'd be so happy seeing Margiela go to that block. Balenciaga+CDG+margiela=shopping heaven

[faust]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caffeine Agree. Faust, you are a finance research analyst? (and yet you've got time hanging out here on tFS ) No you should be working on real estate for a fashion house. I totally agree on what you've said regarding the location.I love that neighborhood. slightly off the topic, My major is real estate finance and I found it hard to land a job in a fashion house working on real estate...I only have one friend who just joined Banana Republic working on the real estate/sales analysis team. I found it quite interesting. I'd be so happy seeing Margiela go to that block. Balenciaga+CDG+margiela=shopping heaven

Yea. Well, you know how business is, lots of talk, little action...