Maison Martin Margiela wants to say something!!
There's a MMM interview in the latest issue of milk magazine. Here it is for your viewing pleasure (I am gonna edit the reporter's poor english
Maison Martin Margiela wants to say something!!
R: How do you explain "Maison Martin Margiela's white"?
MMM: The strength of fragility and the fragility of the passage of time. An expression of unity, purity and honesty. We have always used white as an expression of our house, team and work. White represents a force through fragility for us.
It is never just white and more whites. All the shades possible! we usually use matt white so that the passage of time is evident. Our labels are always white! White more symbolises the physicality of the spaces we live and work in and the expression of our team, through our white coats. Our choice of white as an expression of our team was a natural one taken in 1988. It was more emotional and less strategic than may be imagined. White is also chosen as a sort of "blanket", a cover that allows detail to exist yet harmonises it, providing a strong and uncluttered environment within which to breathe.
R: How do you explain the words "natural", "design" and "deconstruct"?
MMM: Natural infers purity for us. Desgin is the meeting of imagination and functionality, and deconstruction the challenges placed on a finished object when its energy and function may be deflected and distilled by revealing its structure.
R: Why do you use number to separate each line?
The original Maison Martin Margiela label is a rectangle of white cotton attached to a garment by four white stitches at each corner. The four white stitches are visible on the outside, at the back, of knitwear, T-shirts and unlined garments. Further to this as we added new collections to our work we sought a means to differentiate garments of one collection from another and so we hit on the idea of printing our labels with the numbers 0 to 23 and encircling one number to correspond to the collection in question. There is no particular significance in the numbers themselves. They were chosen at random. Originally we perferred to have people react to the garments rather than the label attached to them. Our customers have since understood that a white rectangle represents a piece of the Martin Margiela collection but, for those who do not already know our work, the original idea for a white label is still relevant. The clothes should work for your taste and your wardrobe and not just because they were designed by a designer and carry a designer label.
R: Which lines do you like most?
MMM:
0 Garments remodelled by hand for women
0/10 Garments remodelled by hand for men
0 The collection for women
4 A wardrobe for women
10 The collection for men
13 Objects and publications
14 A wardrobe for men
11 A collection of accessories for women and men
22 A collection of shoes for women and men
A boring answer but true - we like them all as it is the mixture of all of these that create what is "Margiela".
R: What's the reason for developing line 14?
MMM: Line '14' is for men that Line '4' is for women and is born of our love of clothes (garments) and not especially design. Extra attention is paid to the choice of fabrics, finishing and detailing as against our reaction to the challenge of form and utility in the design of a garment. '14' also builds on this love of garments through our 'replica'! Each season we have eight replica - exact reproduction of found garments per season. Often when one finds a vintage garment it exists in one colour and size (and is often quite damaged). Here we apply our expertise to the choice of materials so as the original garment is reproduced. As close to its original form as possible. Each replica will bear a label describing its origin and utility.
R: How do you balance design and business development in Maison Martin Margiela?
MMM: A union of the two certainly makes for a more interesting and fun time! In many ways, in this world of ours today, we tend to reserve the idea of creativity to refer solely to design in its most literal sense yet we would view that a 'creative' approach to one's work is vital for all of us no matter in what walk of life we choose, be this business, art , or in our instance, design. Our view is that in our industry the ideologiacal separation of the notion of business and creativity has become greatly exaggerated. Afterall, unlike artists who may chose to work entirely alone, fashion designers (and this is certainly the case for ready to wear) express themselves through a collaborative industrial process. This is true for the inception, realisation, distribution and commercialisation of that designer's expression. Obviously not all fashion designers will react in the same way to these factors and to some degree when combined with their creative point of view. It is this that will differentiate their work from another's. We have always viewed all aspects of our activity, design, production, distribution, presentation etc. as vital elements of one expression and challenge and the reason that we are stimulated to continue.
R: Do you have any plan to design a new version of the Martin Margiela's AIDS tee?
MMM: No we are very happy with it as it is! We have had a new version, each differeing in colour of fabric or print, of the same t-shirt every season now since it began in 1994.
R: After clothing collection and magazine, will there be any new work?
MMM: At the moment we are looking into another shop in LA and apart from that, after so many projects over the past 12 months, we are concentrating on our collections and collection presentations.
R: Why did you choose to open a store in Hong Kong?
MMM: We have been very lucky to have received great support from our fans and shops in Hong Kong since our very first days in 1988. Now that we have opened a few stores around the world it became a logical, emotional decision for us to bring our work and world closer to Hong Kong so that we can build on this relationship and create a greater bond for a two way dialogue with your culture.
R: Why did you pick Hong Kong to host the Martin Margiela's Exhibition?
MMM: Well we had the space for the shop already and we decided that it would be stimulating for us and hopefully for others to use the space to introduce our creative point of view to the citizens of and visitors to Hong Kong. This is the first time we have undertaken such a project and we have sent a lot of our archive and artifacts over so that they may touch others in a similar way that they do us.
R: Is there any particular designer or artist that you like?
MMM: As we have always said "Those with an authentic approach to their work" by this we mean those who enjoy meeting the challenge presented to them by their creative talent and whom are willing to explore the channels of expression and behavior best suited to them as against the conventions prescribed by an industry or media.
R: Which country or place do you like?
MMM: As a team we are lucky to travel very widely in the world at the moment so it is nearly impossible to pinpoint one country or continent! We do however very much love Asia, Europe and our home Paris as a city.
R: What kind of music do you like?
MMM: The list is far too long to mention here - our tastes as 70 individuals from over 12 countries is so varied it would almost cover everything!
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