Martin Margiela studied at Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts along with the legendary avant-garde fashion collective the Antwerp Six. Although Margiela was only temporarily involved with the group, many still consider him to be the "7th" member of the collective. After graduation in 1980 he worked as a freelance designer for five years. Between 1985 and 1987 he worked for Jean Paul Gaultier, before showing his first collection under his own label in 1988. In 1997 he became, despite his non-traditional design, the chief designer of Hermes women's line. During the 1980s, the Japanese avant-gardists, with Rei Kawakubo (Comme des Garcons), had turned the fashion scene upside-down with their eccentric and ground-breaking designs. Martin Margiela and the Antwerp Six would carry on the work, revolting against the luxurious fashion world with garments of oversized proportions such as long arms, and with linings, seams and hems on the outside. The concept of deconstruction, also embraced by the aforementioned Rei Kawakubo, is important for the understanding of Martin Margiela's fashion statement. Mr Margiela famously redesigns by hand objects such as old wigs, canvases and silk scarves into couture garments. Martin Margiela has been called the J. D. Salinger of the fashion world, and rightly so -- he refuses to be photographed and will only be interviewed by fax. He won't even put his name on his clothes, branding them instead with a blank label. Maison Martin Margiela includes lines that are distinguished through numbers, for example, Maison Martin Margiela Line 1 is women's wear, MMM22 is shoes, MM6 is women's wardrobe, Margiela 11 are accessories, and Margiela 0 is Artisanal, the most exclusive and handcrafted line.

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