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Ensemble

Design House Maison Margiela French
Designer Martin Margiela Belgian
fall/winter 1989–90
Not on view
This leather jacket made from used vintage leather was shown as part of an outfit in the fall/winter 1989–90 collection by Maison Martin Margiela, known for its use of discarded fabrics and repurposing of vintage garments. This was the second collection by the French label under the direction of Belgian designer Martin Margiela. The narrow, elongated silhouette with Victorian shoulders was a huge shift from the typical broad-shouldered 1980s silhouette and prefigured the new slim and deconstructed silhouette for the final decade of the twentieth century. It also referenced the fin de siècle silhouette of a century earlier, thus connecting different fashionable eras through construction and pattern. Margiela kept on redesigning shoulders over the course of his career, ending with wide and conical shapes. The shoulder was an important structural element for his designs, rather than the waist or bust.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Ensemble
  • Design House: Maison Margiela (French, founded 1988)
  • Designer: Martin Margiela (Belgian, born 1957)
  • Date: fall/winter 1989–90
  • Culture: French
  • Medium: (a) leather, metal, (b) wool, (c) leather, metal
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 2018
  • Object Number: 2018.387a–c
  • Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute

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"Drapery Study", Maison Margiela French, (a) rayon, acetate, cuprimonium acetate; (b, c) cotton; (d, e) silk; (f, g) leather, French
"Drapery Study"
Maison Margiela
Martin Margiela
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Evening dress, Maison Margiela French, silk, polyester gum, French
Evening dress
Maison Margiela
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Ensemble, Maison Margiela French, synthetic, French
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