The anniversary celebrates the Tokyo store’s history through a limited-edition publication and an installation connecting contemporary textile art with centuries-old French tapestry craftsmanship
Maison Margiela is marking the 20th anniversary of its Tokyo Ebisu store at 2-8-13 Ebisu-Minami with a limited-edition publication and an art installation developed through its ongoing creative initiative, Line 2. The anniversary takes place November 5, with a special edition of MaisonMargiela/folders distributed across the Ebisu district and at the store, alongside the opening of “Unravelled Memory, Rewoven Future,” a collaboration between Tokyo-based artist Mio Suzuki and French institution Les Manufactures Nationales – Sèvres & Mobilier National. The installation will remain open to the public through November 15.
The anniversary publication documents the store’s history, its relationship with the surrounding community and its connection to Japanese culture. Drawing on the Maison’s archives and first-hand accounts from employees, including team members who have been at the location since its early years, the ZINE also examines the history of the Tabi shoe through interviews with local collectors Noritaka Tatehana and Kozue Akimoto. Additional contributions include photography by Takashi Homma and a dedicated manga about the building’s history as a former electronics factory, created by local manga artist Takehito Moriizumi. The publication is being distributed in Ebisu and made available digitally through Maison Margiela’s website.
The accompanying Line 2 installation brings together Suzuki and Les Manufactures Nationales – Sèvres & Mobilier National in an exploration of deconstruction, time and memory through tapestry. The French institution selected 59 contemporary and antique tapestries, some sourced from French flea markets and dating back as far as 400 years. Shipped to Tokyo, the pieces were carefully unravelled and rewoven by Suzuki over three months before being installed throughout the store.
The project also connects with Maison Margiela’s longstanding interest in material transformation. The house began exploring tapestry in the 1990s, continuing that investigation in its Artisanal 2025 and Fall Winter 2026 collections. The installation draws particular attention to historic European Verdure tapestries, whose plant motifs were influenced by Japanese decorative art, establishing a cultural connection between the materials and the location hosting the work. Les Manufactures Nationales, whose institutional heritage dates to the reign of Louis XIV, maintains a collection of more than 1,500 tapestries while continuing to support traditional weaving techniques and contemporary artistic practice.
Maison Margiela first opened a retail store in Tokyo’s Ebisu neighborhood in September 2000, choosing a traditional Japanese minka at 3-3-3 Ebisu-Minami rather than a conventional luxury shopping district. In 2006, the store relocated five minutes away to the former electronics factory at 2-8-13, a space that has since become an important part of the Maison’s creative history and relationship with the district. The anniversary programming builds on that history through a combination of archival research, local collaboration and artistic exchange, reinforcing the role of the Tokyo store as a setting for the house’s broader cultural and creative activities.
