Film lifts the veil on reclusive designer, ‘the Banksy of fashion’
Belgian designer Martin Margiela remains one of the most elusive personalities in the fashion world, shying away from selfpromotion and press for much of his career before he retired from his namesake maison in 2009. Now, a new film by Reiner Holzemer (2017’s “Dries”), “Martin Margiela: In His Own Words” — streaming through the Roxie Theater and Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive virtual cinemas starting Friday, Aug. 14 — lifts the veil on the artistic process and philosophy of the man known to many as “the Banksy of fashion.”
Interviews with Jean Paul Gaultier, editor Carine Roitfeld, trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort, fashion critic Cathy Horyn and fashion historian Olivier Saillard take you from Margiela’s early days as assistant to Gaultier to career highs at Maison Martin Margiela and as creative director at Hermès. The interviews with Margiela himself and the looks at his most avantgarde, lauded, confusing and daring collections — including a new exhibition of his career at the Palais Galliera in Paris — are what fashion and art fans will gag over.
In a fitting Margiela touch, the film is scored by experimental Belgian rock band dEUS, which would have been a perfect runway soundtrack at one of the fashion icon’s shows. Kate MacKay, associate film curator at the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, introduces the film on YouTube as part of BAMPFA’s #MuseumFromHome programming.
“Martin Margiela: In His Own Words:” Available for streaming Friday, Aug. 14, through Roxie Theater and Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive virtual cinemas. www.roxie.com or www.bam pfa.org