MAN UP: With Paris Men’s Fashion Week set to kick off Tuesday, management at Maison Margiela has confirmed that the house on Friday will present the first men’s collection entirely created and developed under the direction of John Galliano.
The show will take place in the Salle Turenne of the Musée de l’Armée in the Hôtel des Invalides, a complex of buildings in the city’s 7th arrondissement containing museums and monuments relating to the military history of France.
Since joining the OTB-owned house in October 2014, Galliano has had no official involvement in the men’s collection, according to Riccardo Bellini, the house’s chief executive officer. It’s been a step-by-step process for the designer.
“Creating a new aesthetic language rooted in the maison’s couture spirit has always been at the core of Mr. Galliano’s creative vision for the future of the house. Rather than curating the past we have chosen to look at the future and John Galliano’s vision represents a forward-thinking view on the maison and its DNA,” he said. “This collection will offer an elevated and powerful new foundation for men’s wear, strongly positioned within the luxury arena.”
Related Galleries
For men’s, the brand counts about 60 direct stores and around 400 multibrand and department stores worldwide. The plan going forward is “to grow the brand’s direct channel through an organic and focused increase in freestanding stores and importantly through new innovative digital solutions. The digitization of our business is at the heart of our strategy for the future,” he said.
“Our ambition is to accelerate growth across the entire maison and across all collections by putting John Galliano’s new creative vision at the core of everything we do,” added the executive.
“We have been experiencing a strong positive momentum on the brand over the last months with double-digit growth across all collections and looking ahead for 2018, in addition to men’s wear, we will see many new exciting projects which will add new and deeper layers to Mr. Galliano’s vision,” the ceo said.