MARGIELA'S HERMÈS REMAINS A MINIMALIST TOUCHSTONE

The avant-garde designer's classical mode changed fashion.

A Harper's Bazaar editorial from 1998 featuring designs by Martin Margiela for Hermès. Mark Borthwick.

“I remember sitting next to Amy Spindler,” recounted Cathy Horyn about Martin Margiela’s Hermès debut in the documentary Martin Margiela: In His Own Words. “She was enraged that these plain clothes were coming out. She was like, ‘Hermes has all these things it could be doing and all these symbols and the scarf prints and the horse thing.’ I was thinking, ‘It’s so chic looking, but it’s so repetitive and it’s so simple, and why not do a little bit more?’ We weren’t thinking that the most luxurious thing was a leather coat cut super soft that went down to the floor. We just didn’t get that.”

These two veteran fashion critics weren’t alone in their initial, underwhelmed impression. Margiela’s appointment to Hermès in 1997 left more than a few people scratching their heads. What would this daring Belgian, then already known for his signature Tabi shoes and reconfiguring of vintage garments, do with possibly the most elegant signifier of French luxury?

In just a few short years and a handful of collections, Margiela conjured some of the most unimpeachably chic clothes the canon has to offer. Though the actual timespan may have been short, this period in the house’s history has gone on to influence countless brands – from The Row to Lemaire – while rarely receiving the credit.