We Margiela is the documentary film directed by the Mint Office of Rotterdam on the enigmatic and singular case of the Maison Martin Margiela. In this film, for the first time, Jenny Meirens, partner and co-founder of the recently deceased Maison Margiela, together with the creative team of Martin Margiela, describes the inventive processes and thinking of the Maison. Their stories, through long detailed and personal interviews, offer a broad insight into the genesis of one of the most influential fashion houses of our time.
The film delves into the legacy of Maison Martin Margiela and its relevance to fashion today more than ever. The history of the Maison parallels the creative development and its success, and develops the concepts related to creativity, authorship and economic return in our neoliberal times. We Margiela interviews reveal that many of the House's iconic images and ideas today were born of intuition and chance, not systematic concepts.
The House was run on the basis of strong gut emotions and a constant commitment to taking creative risks. As co-founder Jenny Meirens says: “When you want to please others and everyone, you get nowhere. I think we should try to be different from the others: in the long run it will give you the freedom not to respond to the system".
That of "WE MARGIELA" mint film office documentary, 2017 was one of the first contemporary avant-garde fashion houses forced to give in to strong economic and financial pressure. After the sale of the Maison, the two founders – Martin Margiela and Jenny Meirens, retired from professional life and never spoke again.
Jenny Meirens, founding partner, passed away on July 2017, XNUMX. The documentary demonstrates how, although invisible and unknown to many, she played a fundamental role in the birth of the fashion house, in its method and style.
The film involves those in the creative team, including herself, speaking about Martin and Jenny's desire to break boundaries and go against an established fashion system. Many of those who were in the Maison from the beginning (Madeleine Berkheimer, Deanna Ferretti Veroni, Grace Fisher, Inge Grognard, Lutz Huelle, Harley Hughes, Axel Keller, Stanislas Maryshev, Sophie Pay, Vicky Roditis, Patrick Scallom, Lucia Zanni) speak for the first time and show their personal collections: shelves of Tabi boots or jackets inspired by Stockman mannequins with visible stitching).
We Margiela will be presented in Italy for the first time at 10 Corso Como in Milan on Thursday 26 October and on the same day in China at 10 Corso Como Shanghai.
The film is a co-production with the Dutch public broadcaster AVROTROS, the Dutch Film Fund,
the Dutch Cultural Mediafund and the CoBO Fund.
WE MARGIELA – 99” – English subtitles
mint film office documentary, 2017
Premiere of the film in 10 Corso Como
Thursday 26 October 2017
two screenings at 17.00 and 19.00
free admission while seats last
