Simran Hans 

Martin Margiela: In His Own Words review – philosopher of fashion

Reiner Holzemer’s film about the media-shy Belgian designer is insightful – despite not revealing his subject’s face
  
  

Female fashion dummy, its face entirely covered by white wig, in white lingerie with two shopping bags forming  a top.
An image from Martin Margiela: In His Own Words. Photograph: Dogwoof

This fun, nerdy follow-up to Reiner Holzemer’s 2017 documentary about Dries Van Noten takes on another Belgian fashion designer, Martin Margiela. The use of the notoriously media-shy Margiela’s warm, serious spoken voice helps to create intimacy, even though we never see his face. “I don’t like the idea of being a celebrity; anonymity is very important to me,” he says, and so Holzemer simply shows us his hands. Fitting, given the man’s style philosophy is all about silhouette – “the shoulder” and “the shoe”. As a child, Margiela would cut off the toes of his Barbies’ shoes, an interesting detail that foreshadows the legacy of the cloven Tabi boots he brought to the runway in the 1980s.
• Available to stream via Curzon Home Cinema and on iTunes

Watch a trailer for Martin Margiela.
 

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