It’s been a month now since Avantgarde Fashion House Maison Martin Margiela moved its exhibition from Antwerp to Berlin and finally to Somerset House in London celebrating its 20th anniversary back in 2008.
The Exhibition looks deeply into the different themes and concepts that Maison Martin Margiela has explored during the 20 years of its various collection, fashion shows, presentation and events worldwide. Maison Martin Margiela is known for its “deconstructivist” approach, its fashion shows in unexpected places and its taste for recovery and recycling materials. And the use of white, or better said, all possible shades of white, in the interiors of its offices, shops and showrooms, as White stands for ‘the strength of fragility and the fragility of the passage of time’. I really like their idea of vulnerable white representing history being not denied, but integrated as an indispensable element.
The iconic Tabi
The silhouette of the Shoulders
Trompe L’oeil The Optical Illusion
The big fashion houses like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Vivienne Westwood and Viktor & Rolf have held exhibitions in various forms since some years ago. In those exhibitions, they often collaborate with new fashion designers/architects/artists or even charitable organizations. For instance Zaha Hadid, one of the most talented architects in her generation, was chosen by Karl Lagerfeld to create the Mobile Art CHANEL Contemporary Art Container which exhibited 20 contemporary artists’ art pieces inspired by Chanel’s iconic quilted bag. Where as Louis Vuitton wrapped the facade of Hong Kong Museum of Arts with the “After Dark” series by artist Richard Prince, whose collection with Louis Vuitton was also exhibited alongside with Takashi Murakami, Stephen Sprouse in the exhibition ‘Louis Vuitton: A Passion For Creation’. The exhibition also showcased selected works from the Fondation Louis Vuitton pour la Création, bringing together a small number of significant large-scale works (paintings, photographs, video installations) by European, American and Chinese artists.
It seems to me that the fashion business cannot survive solely by selling garments now. The long established labels need to market themselves through new collaborations and exciting events. The exhibitions can popularize the fashion houses by contributing to art and cultural development, not to mention the effect of the press that covers the exhibitions. Well of course they also make their fans worship the labels more. Killing two birds in one stone. Brilliant.
lohoi go around 