what would margiela do?

What would Martin Margiela do, says the ribbon on the Maison Martin Margiela book. With rumours that Martin Margiela, the man, has already left his post at the house since last year, this must be the question that staff at the Maison are asking. After ss09 (the 20th anniversary collection which showcased signature looks from the Maison's archive), MMM's collections have been lacklustre; ss10 feels like someone was trying to do a collection in the spirit of Margiela, but hollowed of thought and high on gimmickry. And with the publication of this Margiela tome - a recordand milestone of Margiela's work in the last 20years (though in official communications, the work has always been credited to the Maison as a whole), it seems ever more evident that the house has been running on autopilot without much involvement, if any at all, from the main man. No official word has come from the house currently owned by Renzo Rosso, who is hell bent on turning MMM into a megaluxury brand, embarking on an unbridled spree of store openings around the world and expansion of product lines in the few years since he acquired ownership of the house. This maniacal expansion, to the dismay of many, possibly goes against much of the ethos that the house originally stood for. The secrecy regarding the status of Margiela's involvement is understandable given that the name of the house was built on as much the cerebral and idiosyncratic garments that the house is known for, as the cult-like mystique and aura of the founder.

Has jesus left the house? What would Jesus do?

book is available at Amazon

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edit: Woke up this morning to this report from vogue.co.uk. It's official.

"Margiela Sans Margiela
LAUREN MILLIGAN 03 October 2009
AFTER months of whispers surrounding his future within his eponymous Maison, Renzo Rosso has confirmed that Martin Margiela is no longer directly involved in the designing of the label. Unsubstantiated whispers have suggested Haider Ackermann could be set to take the reigns, but Rosso insists the new direction lies in a new team.
"Martin has not been there for a long time," Russo told WGSN. "He is here but not here. We have a new fresh design team on board. We are focusing on young, realistic energy for the future; this is really Margiela for the year 2015."
Rosso, founder and owner of Diesel, bought a majority stake in Maison Martin Margiela in 2002 and remains involved in both companies today."
vogue.co.uk