From Jonathan Anderson at Dior to Demna at Gucci, 2025 has been a year of debuts in the world of luxury fashion, so far. Among the high-profile director changes and upcoming first collections, one can find Glenn Martens, who showed the world the first taste of his take on Maison Margiela at Paris Couture Week earlier this July. Known for his work with Diesel and Y/Project, Martens carries the weight of succeeding John Galliano as Maison Margiela’s newest creative director. And as seen in his Artisanal show, this is a weight Martens seems more than ready to bear.
Glenn Martens is no stranger to Maison Margiela. For starters, the maison is under Only the Brave (OTB), the same parent company as his former home, Diesel. Digging a little deeper, Martens also shares some key similarities with the brand’s nominal founder, Martin Margiela. Not only are both designers Belgian, but they are also alumni of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. On top of this, the first brand both worked for was Jean Paul Gaultier. This lays the groundwork for expectations that the two designers have similar sensibilities, which is proven true to a certain extent.
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Martens’ debut collection pays homage to classic Margiela motifs, such as masks and plastics. Meanwhile, the corsets and incorporation of flowers felt reminiscent of Galliano’s time at both Dior and Maison Margiela. Finding a place for theatrical, avant-garde garments in daily wear was a trademark of Galliano’s—something Martens was also able to touch on in his collection. “I know it’s hard to imagine, because couture can look like costume, but these new ideas he presented will be the foundations for many new products,” OTB chairman Renzo Rosso shared shortly after Martens’ show.
While references to the brand’s history are inevitable and aplenty in Glenn Martens’ couture collection, he’s ushering a new era for the brand and recognizes the need to do so. “I love this house for its founding DNA, but definitely a lot of that DNA has been fully plundered; literally plundered,” Martens said before his debut. Gothic churches and Flemish architecture inspired numerous looks, with the designer recreating key construction materials like stone and metal through organza, jacquard, and deft techniques of fabric manipulation. Staying true to his Diesel roots, the brand’s core as defined by Martens made itself evident in the latest Margiela collection through numerous reimaginations of denim, as seen in looks 17, 24, and 26.
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At Diesel as well, Martens championed sustainability, as one of his first tasks with the brand was to revamp their supply chain and mentality on making garments, so it comes as no surprise that he incorporated junk material such as used paper, old jewelry, and tin into the collection. One-third of the collection was upcycled, representing a convergence between Martens’ sustainable fashion work and Margiela’s tradition of upcycling as a tribute to its founder’s love for “found objects” that may otherwise be considered as junk.
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A Margiela collection would not be complete without a mention of the iconic masks, which Martens seemed to indulge in. Highlights include looks 9 and 11, with metallic textiles that serve as masks and veil or scarf-like garments, ultimately resembling a feeling of liquid gold. While Martin Margiela initially used masks to promote a sense of anonymity, drawing attention away from the models and to the clothing, these masks have become a spectacle of their own, screaming “look at this!” in its own way.
As to be expected of Maison Margiela, Martens’ debut Artisanal collection was extravagant and ambitious. Guests of the show, ranging from celebrities such as the Kardashian-Jenners, designers like Christian Louboutin, and esteemed editors or moguls in the luxury world, celebrated the show with a resounding sentiment: “We like fashion again.”
“The more special something is, the more I like it,” shared journalist Suzy Menkes with Vogue Business. With a debut like Martens’, it’s easy to be kept on one’s toes for what Maison Margiela’s newest creative director has to offer next.
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