When Martin Margiela was the creative director of Hermès And the unexpected chemistry between two worlds at the antipodes

It was in April 1997 that the Belgian designer Martin Margiela was appointed the new creative director of Hermès. Many wondered at the time how an avant-garde, pioneering creative, a fashion iconoclast, could have 'landed' at Hermès, and especially what had prompted Jean-Louis Dumas to make such an unlikely artistic connection. It was the 90s, Martin Margiela lived in anonymity: he refused to be photographed, he communicated with the press only by fax and at the end of the fashion show he kept the crowd waiting because, after all, his work was already quite eloquent. From tops made of plastic bags to waistcoats made of broken plates and wire, from human-sized doll wardrobes to dresses made of candles, Margiela's creations went beyond any avant-garde of the time, often even beyond the limits of the material. Between absolute anonymity and a production far removed from the minimal elegance of the Hermès family, the appointment of such a subversive figure at the head of a fashion house synonymous with traditional luxury made the press curious: how would Margiela interpret the Hermès classics? Was a compromise between the two really possible? But above all: what had prompted the conservators at the top of Hèrmes to make a decision that seemed (or perhaps was) a head-scratcher? The credit goes to Sanrdine Dumas. 

The understanding between Margiela and Hèrmes was also evident in the no-logo philosophy, especially when the designer proposed very simple 6-hole buttons that were hand-sewn into a small, refined H. He did the same with colours, favouring complementary tones over flashy shades: camel, ivory, lead white, taupe (Hermès' legendary 'achromatic'), bronze, stone, alabaster, slate. But the changes were not only in the clothes. For the castings, Margiela always preferred people from the street to professional models, 'real' and often mature women who were truly representative of Hermès customers. The fashion shows took place in the historic Buotique at 24 Faubourg-Saint Honoré, the soundtrack being a male voice giving all the compliments in French that a woman would like to hear: "Tu es fantastique, Tu es charmante, tu es unique...", an idea by Marie-Hélène Vincent to the melancholy background sounds of Erik Satie's Gymnopédies.