A Matter of Preservation
Review of Maison Margiela Spring 2027 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
It has been little more than a year since Glenn Martens made his debut at Maison Margiela with Fall 2025 Couture. A collection that was well received by the wider fashion media for staying true to the legacy in its visual language and the atmospheric set design that resembled a crumbling house with peeling walls. Fast forward to today and Martens is a man solely focused on one house – as he relinquished his creative director roles at both Y Project and bid farewell to Diesel this past Milan fashion week.
Today, we witnessed a designer who had dialled down the volume on the drama and was redressing the balance between excess and the everyday, without losing the experimental nature of what sets Maison Margiela apart.
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
In the run up to today, the Maison Margiela instagram account posted videos featuring the crushing of a silver teapot, a body ensnared in a fishing net, the single stem of a flower slowly decaying, and floral bouquets wrapped in cellophane.
What appeared as if disparate images – to make sense only to those who had seen the puzzle pieces as a whole – you could attempt to decipher that what was on the designers mind as he looked to the future was preservation. Or the need to capture the significance of this moment in time. This line of thought became that much more plausible when the show invitation was revealed as another single stem dried flower encased in a plastic keepsake box. Knowing it will itself be preserved over time, Martens was gifting each show guest their own individual art installation or an invitation to slow down and also focus.
And in the same way we now assign the addition of florals – whether printed, 3D, or embellished – in any collection as passé or slightly old-fashioned, a show with the ability to walk off the runway and into our wardrobes may also be met with accusations of being overly commercial. In reality neither are true in a world where fashion – like art – can be anything and everything, fantasy and reality, sculptural and simple.
Glenn Marten’s spring 2027 collection could be taken as both a need to preserve what Maison Margiela has always been known for, while keeping one foot in the real world that requires brands and their creative directors to still dream, but with the knowledge that sales targets still need to be satisfied.
The rooms of the show space, decorated floor to ceiling with flowers – fresh, decaying, dried, the earth they come from and the foam florists use to preserve them – became the backdrop for the show and felt as if visiting a wholesale flower market for the evening. The collection was thankfully not solely dedicated to head-to-toe floral looks throughout, instead a series of very wearable, yet very Margiela, clothes were interspersed with flashes of psychedelic florals – a print design reminiscent of 1970s tablecloths that has made an appearance across the season. Like flowers blooming, open necklines were a highlight on trench coats and jacquard shirts worn ‘open’ to the naval, yet actually featured a flesh-coloured panel to protect the wearers modesty, but will cause passers-by to do a double-take.
The netting imagery used in the show’s teaser showed up in retro-style knitted vests for men (the summer of the whimsy man continues to trend), multi-coloured shopping bags and wrap-dresses for women. The crushed silverware became a pseudo-armour decorative layer over a maxi dress, with draping that felt drawn from The Odyssey appearing in the finale gown. Like with Marie Adam-Leenaerdt earlier that day, a commentary of the clothing we wear everyday is becoming the go-to for next season, as designers create new from old and attempt to reignite our love for the familiar, think trench coats, tailoring, pencil skirts, and button-down shirts.
In Martens case this felt like a pulling back from the last few seasons where extreme mouth jewellery and some highly-wrought designs were received with mixed reviews. This show may have been a way to address that and provide a balance, which at this time of starting afresh with a clear focus, can only be a good thing.
THE WRAP UP
For all the symbolism around preservation teased before the show, Martens convincingly demonstrated that he recognised what was worth holding onto and what should be allowed to evolve in a house that is known for its dedicated – and very vocal – fans.
The codes of Margiela were still there – the trompe l’oeil, repurposing, surrealism, making the familiar feel slightly strange – but this time they found a grounding in clothes that had a clearer through-line to the everyday. Spring 2027 felt like a much-needed redressing of the balance, with Martens choosing not to abandon the fantasy or experimentation of Maison Margiela, but simply reminding us that a trench coat, pencil skirt or button-down shirt can be just as radical when seen from the right angle.
