Martin Margiela Black Sleeveless Dress
About the Item
- Designer:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: 42 (EU)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU451918153
Maison Martin Margiela
Belgian designer Martin Margiela (b. 1957) — whose life, career, clothing designs and vintage shoes have become cult-collector obsessions — pushed those who attended his shows outside their comfort zones. In the years following his maison's 1988 debut, he toyed with creative and aesthetic paradoxes that persist in fashion today.
Consider the Spring/Summer 2001 shirt patchworked from vintage clothing labels, or his famous corset dresses made from tailoring dummies, from his Fall/Winter 1997 line. Or his oversize collection for Fall/Winter 2000. In 1992, Margiela told Dépêche Mode magazine, “My clothes appeal to women of a certain mindset rather than of a specific age or physique.”
Born in Genk, Belgium, in 1957, Margiela knew he wanted to be a fashion designer after catching glimpses of Parisian fashion on TV as a child. Although his parents discouraged this career choice as an oddly funny aspiration, Margiela enrolled in the fashion program of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. There, he befriended and graduated a year ahead of the Antwerp Six — the acclaimed group of Belgian fashion designers comprising Dries Van Noten, Walter Van Beirendonck, Ann Demeulemeester, Marina Yee, Dirk Bikkembergs and Dirk Van Saene.
Like many of his contemporaries in the 1980s, Margiela understood Paris fashion but felt a deep resonance with the deconstructed beauty espoused by Japanese designers Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo, of Comme des Garçons. Margiela’s fascination with Japan influenced many of his earliest collections and designs, from a dress pieced together from broken plates to his iconic Tabi boots, inspired by the split-toe Japanese worker’s shoe, which dates back to the 15th century. He decided to launch his own line while working for renowned Paris designer Jean Paul Gaultier.
Margiela, Gaultier has often stated, was his best assistant. Even then, the 2019 film Martin Margiela: In His Own Words suggests, he was acutely aware of the widening gulf between the art and the business of fashion.
Margiela’s debut show was nothing short of spectacular. Set in a packed Café de la Gare in the still-seedy Marais district, it was also scandalous to the Parisian fashion set of the time. The designer tore up the conventions of contemporary couture presentations, most notably having his models, plucked from the streets and wearing ink-blotted Tabis, wend their way through the crowd. The show redefined the concept of the runway in a way that would later inspire such designers as Alexander McQueen and Demna Gvasalia.
While the notoriously private designer retired from fashion in 2009, for many Maison Martin Margiela collectors, his pieces capture the irreverence of the postwar, post-punk late 1980s and ’90s. Katy Rodriguez, cofounder of the cult vintage fashion shop Resurrection, is among those who felt a connection to Margiela’s clothing in the subliminal challenges it posed to the time’s beauty norms.
“Growing up in San Francisco and coming out of the end of punk rock, not wanting to be objectified, not wanting to be seen as a sexual object, not wanting your value to be just because you’re pretty — all those clothes played into all of that,” she says. “It really was a reflection of the kind of world the young people I knew at the time wanted to live in.”
Find vintage Maison Martin Margiela boots, evening dresses, jackets and more on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Los Angeles, CA
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Balenciaga By Ghesquiere Black Peplum Coat DressBy BalenciagaLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Balenciaga by Nicolas Ghesquière black coat dress featuring a high collar, ruffle insets in the bod...Category
Early 2000s French Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Balenciaga by Ghesquiere Black Cocktail Mini Dress 2007By BalenciagaLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Balenciaga by Nicolas Ghesquiere black viscose cocktail dress featuring an empire waistline, drape ...Category
Early 2000s French Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Dolce & Gabbana Black Velvet Mini Dress With Fringe Hem & Rhinestone StrapsBy Dolce & GabbanaLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Dolce & Gabbana black velvet slip dress featuring a fitted body, skinny straps with rhinestones, a fringe hem, and knee-length. D...Category
Early 2000s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- Versace Black Leather Pinstripe Tank Dress 1990SBy Gianni VersaceLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer Gianni Versace black leather day dress featuring an dotted pinstriping,tank body, front kangaroo pocket, and fitted sexy silhouette. Versac...Category
1990s Italian Evening Dresses
- Halston Purple Chiffon & Jersey DressBy HalstonLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is pleased to offer a vintage Halston dress featuring a flowy chiffon overlay, knee-length hem, fitted underlay, and scoop...Category
1970s Caftans
- Miu Miu Navy Mini Dress With Green RhinestonesBy Miu MiuLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is pleased to offer a vintage Miu Miu mini dress featuring quarter sleeves, green rhinestones, and lace-up closure on the back....Category
Early 2000s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- Gianni Versace navy blue open-knit bodycon dress and cardigan set, fw 1993By Gianni VersaceLocated in London, GB▪ Gianni Versace navy blue open-knit dress and cardigan 2 piece set ▪ Sleeveless bodycon maxi dress with lining ▪ Long-sleeve full-length cardigan ▪ Gold Medusa buttons ▪ Can be wo...Category
1990s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Vivienne Westwood bronze stretch-velvet and gold foil printed dress, fw 1990By Vivienne WestwoodLocated in London, GB▪ Vivienne Westwood bronze stretch-velvet evening dress ▪ Gold foil neoclassical print inspired by Andre-Charles Boulle ▪ Concealed zipper at center-back ▪ Size Medium ▪ Fall-Winter...Category
1990s British Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Dolce & Gabbana F/W 2003 Corset Bustier Bra Bodycon Hook and Eye Black DressBy Dolce & GabbanaLocated in Naples, FLDolce & Gabbana Corset Bustier Bra Bodycon Hook and Eye Black Dress IT 38Category
Early 2000s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Dolce & Gabbana Vintage Special Edition Bodycon Corset Black Mini DressBy Dolce & GabbanaLocated in Naples, FLDolce & Gabbana Vintage Special Edition Bodycon Corset Black Mini Dress IT 42 Dolce & Gabbana bodycon corset structured mini dress featuring lac...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Mini Dress
- Gianfranco Ferre Favorite Avant Garde Beaded Blue Evening Dress NEWBy Gianfranco FerréLocated in Los Angeles, CAGianfranco Ferre's highly architectural avant garde creation, designed with an art deco influence, is truly unique and imaginative in an amazing innovative and structurally breathtak...Category
Early 2000s Evening Dresses
- Deadstock Bill Blass Fall 2008 Platinum Jacquard Evening Bustier Dress w TagBy Peter Som, Bill BlassLocated in Portland, ORThis is a Bill Blass beautiful deadstock platinum multi wood bustier evening dress from Peter Som's Fall/Winter 2008 debut collection for Bill Blass. The overall effect of the fabric...Category
Early 2000s American Cocktail Dresses