Glenn Martens Is the New Creative Director of Maison Margiela
Today, Maison Margiela has announced that Glenn Martens has been hired as its new creative director. The news comes nearly two months after John Galliano stepped down from the role, and two weeks after the shuttering of Y/Project, where Martens was at the helm for 11 years. Martens will continue his creative directorship of Diesel, which makes sense considering the label is owned by Margiela’s parent company OTB.
Martens’ tenure at Diesel has been particularly impressive. Since joining the brand in 2020, he has brought the early-2000s denim behemoth back to life with spectacularly viral runway shows and cool, rough-around-the-edges collections that speak to a new generation of Brats and Dimes Square bros—hot clothes for hot kids, with a few It bags and shoes to match. Martens turned the label quietly founded by Gilles Elalouf and Yohan Serfaty in 2010 into one of fashion’s most idiosyncratic brands beloved by hypebeasts and urban style punks alike. His clothes are surrealist versions of everyday wear, like a button-down shirt twisted like a tornado at the bodice or a pair of Ugg boots so big and tall, theyt make your legs look like they’re drowning.
Born in Belgium, Martens honed his skills as a master designer at Martin Margiela’s alma mater, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. Martens went on to work for Jean Paul Gaultier, also like Margiela did, and developed an eye for otherworldly clothes. Using precision and playfulness, he crafts garments that freaked our collective understanding of fit and construction. Martens has never taken himself or his work too seriously and it shows in his repertoire. As writer Liana Satenstein once described it, Martens’ vision is “a delightfully demented take on everyday clothes.”
In the open-ended universe of Maison Margiela, where shoes have hooves and a t-shirt is never just a t-shirt, Martens’ distinct point of view will surely have no limits.
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