BY GIORGIA CANTARINI
For Fall Winter 2026, Maison Margiela takes his world to Shanghai, staging a true homage to its own universe, intertwining the codes of the Artisanal line — defined by material interventions and radical transformations — with those of the 1990s Replica line, built from existing garments reworked through a creative process.
Under the direction of Glenn Martens, the house does not reference its past — it reactivates it. Foundational codes such as assemblage, anonymity, unconventional materials and treated surfaces are not revisited, but evolved, as if time were something to move through rather than archive.
The garment is no longer an object, but a trace: the memory of something that once existed, now continuing in another form. Porcelain reappears, materials merge, garments are constructed through layering, fracture and reconstruction.
Presented for the first time in China, the collection brings together ready-to-wear and Artisanal, echoing the house’s early years and reaffirming a radical idea: that there is no hierarchy between the unique and the reproducible — only different states of the same material.
This is not nostalgia. It is active memory and the clue is in the title “Folders”, going through a rich history of creativity to give new life into a different perspective. Glenn Martens brings to the table something that is very dear to him: reimagining textiles, different materials and poetry for one of his most impactful show since he arrived at the maison. For the first show in China, This show, Maison Margiela folders, has led to twelve days of exhibitions and activations across four cities, celebrating many of the house codes seen in this collection: an Artisanal exhibition in Shanghai, an Anonymity of masks exhibition in Beijing; a Tabi exhibition in Chengdu and a Bianchetto experience in Shenzhen.
The last look an old painting worn as a couture gown will be perfect for the next Met Gala. The theme “Fashion is Art” is the official dress code and thematic focus for the 2026 Met Gala and we are sure we will see a lot of Margiela on the red carpet.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SHOW:
PORCELAIN
Porcelain — a Chinese invention — is evoked through layered and printed organza, as well as through garments constructed from shattered fragments applied directly onto the body.
REWORKED TAILORING
Archetypal wardrobe pieces — tailcoats, trenches, double-breasted jackets — are altered: cut away, painted in bianchetto white, or fused with second-skin jersey.
MATERIAL FUSION
Leather, velvet and tweed are bonded together, creating hybrid garments where textures coexist in tension.
VINTAGE MEMORY
Fragile, unwearable dresses are fixed to a base and then removed, leaving the imprint of the original garment on a new form.
RECONSTRUCTED TAPESTRIES
Threadbare textiles, beyond restoration, are painstakingly repaired with paillettes, turning damage into surface.
EDWARDIAN REFERENCES
High necklines, emphasised sleeves and elongated silhouettes evoke Edwardian dress, while original garments and paintings are transformed without being cut.
BEESWAX
Beeswax coats and binds garments, fixing their form and merging layers into a single surface.
EXTREME DRAPING
Draping is pushed beyond its limits: constructions with no visible beginning or end, and rigid fabrics forced into fluid behaviour.
ALTERED KNITWEAR
Knit pieces are painted, distorted or intentionally ill-fitting, with worn and eroded details.
ASSEMBLAGE
Disparate materials are joined and then opened, revealing voids and traces of previous forms, some seams to be coming from gold gift wrapping paper.
ANONYMITY
Each look is worn with an Artisanal mask, creating a uniform visual language that shifts focus from identity to process.