Cosmeticbeauty: Celebration of Maison Martin Margiela with H&M

Julianne Moore, Sarah Jessica Parker, Mena Suvari, Kanye West, Helena Christensen, Selma Blair, Alan Cumming and Chace Crawford were among the guests at a party in New York to celebrate Hennes & Mauritz AB’s (H&M) collaboration with Maison Martin Margiela. The unique event was held across many floors of 5 Beekman Street, a historical building in the city’s financial district.

Guests were able to discover the collection in dance performances by noted choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker and through specially commissioned art installations, before DJ’s kept the party going into the early hours. The Maison Martin Margiela with H&M collection will be launched on November 15th in around 230 H&M stores worldwide.

“We are happy to present the Maison Martin Margiela with H&M collection in New York with this event. Maison Martin Margiela believes in showing its work outside of the traditional context. This mix of installation and performance captures the spirit of the house, and allowed the artists to interpret the collaboration collection in ways they saw fit.” Maison Martin Margiela.

“Tonight’s party has been such an exciting evening, full of surprises. In every room, on every floor, you never knew what you were going to find. The installations showed the Maison Martin Margiela collection with H&M in the most amazing and original way and we believe our customers will really appreciate this collection”, says Margareta van den Bosch, Creative Advisor at H&M.

The derelict and raw nine-story building, housed around a glass-roofed atrium, was the perfect setting for the celebration of Maison Martin Margiela with H&M, decorated in the label’s signature white-painted style. The famed choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker created a unique and beautiful performance in squares of sand, which ran throughout the evening on different floors. Anne Teresa and her dancers removed garments from the collection while performing, thus creating live and spontaneous art installations.

The collection with H&M, a series of re-editions of Maison Martin Margiela garments and accessories from various seasons, was further revealed in special art installations on various floors: artists Daniel Arsham, Frederique Chauveaux and Noemie Goudal, created sculptures, projections and photographs exclusively for the event

“It’s an amazing collaboration! Margiela is a beautiful brand – arty, iconoclastic and always edgy. And the quality is always amazing with H&M. Fashion is great because it’s an expression of who you are”, says Julianne Moore.

Martin Margiela (born April 9, 1957 in Genk, Belgium) is a Belgian fashion designer. He studied at Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts along with the legendary avantgarde fashion collective the Antwerp Six. Many[who?] still consider him to be the "7th" member of the collective.

Throughout his career, Martin Margiela has maintained an extremely low profile. He has never had his picture taken and remains backstage after his shows. All media contact is dealt with via fax. Maison Martin Margiela’s ultradiscreet trademark consists of a piece of cloth with the numbers 0-23. The badge is attached to the inside with its four little white pick stitches, exposed to the outside on unlined garments. For the 20'th anniversary the anonymous tag was replaced by a classic logotype.

Margiela's brand was acquired by the Diesel brand in 2002 and industry insiders quoted in the article suggested that Martin Margiela may desire to leave due to creative differences, or simply, "... a desire to enjoy his life outside the insistent glare of the fashion world."

An article in New York Times dated October 1, 2008, gave many in the fashion world their first glimpse of Margiela's face, as well as breaking the news that he allegedly offered to hand the reins of his company over to Raf Simons, who appears to have declined the offer. Haider Ackermann was later offered the position as creative director, but similarly turned it down.

In October, 2009, Margiela majority stakeholder Renzo Rosso finally made public: "Martin has not been there for a long time. 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."

A press release announced in December, that Margiela "has left the business. No replacement creative director will be appointed. Maison Martin Margiela will continue trading but the company declined to comment on the reasons for Margiela’s exit."

Stars present at the event wearing MMM with H&M: