In Paris, more than 200 items from the personal archive of Martin Margiela are being auctioned at Maurice Auction in collaboration with Kerry Taylor Auctions, featuring everything from 1984 sketches to pieces from 2008. This marks the first time the designer has directly participated in an auction of his archives during his lifetime. An exhibition in Paris from July 4 to 8 will precede the bidding on July 9. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the fight against AIDS.
Margiela stepped down as creative director of Maison Martin Margiela in 2009, officially concluding two decades of leadership at the house he founded in 1988 alongside Jenny Meirens. Following his departure, the brand remained under the control of the OTB Group and the creative direction of other designers, while Margiela himself maintained his independence and authority over his name.
The curation of the exhibition was entrusted to artist and sculptor Bob Verhelst, who created an installation true to the spirit of the Margiela aesthetic, set against a backdrop of bare walls and ruins.
The catalog features sketches annotated with the designer’s notes, prototypes of garments that later became iconic, and deeply personal artifacts. Among these are a white cotton work coat worn daily by the designer in his studio—bearing traces of his labor in paint, stains, and scuffs—a white telephone from the late 1980s with his own number written on the dial, a pair of Tabi boots painted with graffiti after the 1991 Palais Galliera exhibition that served as prototypes for the legendary silhouette that became the brand’s signature, and a mockup of a veil-mask originally used in shows to obscure models' identities, which still bears original pencil markings.
A particularly moving section of the auction contains a sixty-item capsule: the wardrobe of his late mother, Léa Boucher, consisting of Hermès pieces that Margiela either designed or selected for her during his tenure as creative director of the women’s collections from 1997 to 2003. This line of clothing reflects Margiela’s vision of luxury: modest, functional, yet flawlessly executed.
Margiela is an avant-gardist who always shunned the cult of personality, famously refusing photo shoots, interviews, or runway bows. His brand was built on the principle of anonymity: four white stitches in place of a logo, anonymous models on the runway, and shows staged in derelict metro stations or on construction sites. Now, he is voluntarily opening the doors to his archive—a personal museum of his life's work and experiences. This is not a departure from his principles, but their logical evolution: if the creations are more significant than the person, then the creations should live on in the hands of others. Perhaps it is a sign of weariness with anonymity, or perhaps a recognition that a legacy requires witnesses.
The auction reflects a desire for authenticity in a world where archival collaborations and reissues have become commercial norms. Here, instead, is an original history of creativity told through objects marked by time, errors, and revisions. It is not a myth of the creator, but the actual process of creation. It is a story that previously remained behind closed doors.
