Martin Margiela Outlines Pressures Of Fashion’s Fast Pace In New Letter

It’s pretty (okay, very) well-known that Martin Margiela is a man of few words and almost total anonymity. But last night, at the Belgian Fashion Awards, the elusive designer made his presence known when he received the night’s grand prize. Awarded the Jury Prize award for ‘his entire career and his obvious impact on the history of fashion, today’s collections, and more than likely the ones to come’, Margiela responded with a letter – come on, you didn’t think he was actually going to show up, did you? “I am very touched and indeed honoured to receive this award, here in my native country. Especially because I stepped down from fashion already ten years ago,” the letter read. “This evening my memory goes back to 1983 when I received, here in Brussels, my very first recognition: the second prize of the ‘Golden Spindle’ contest, handed to me by the then only foreign jury member, Jean Paul Gaultier.” Margiela went on to detail the reason he stepped away from his eponymous label in 2008, citing, like many designers before him, the rapid pace of fashion and the rise of social media as huge pressures on his creative output. Read more at Dazed.