Chitose Abe, Hussein Chalayan, Martine Sitbon, Martin Margiela, and 28 other designers walk into a bar…Except that the bar is a magazine; A Magazine, to be precise.
You read that right: Martin Margiela is back in the fashion fold—kind of—as one of the curators of A Magazine’s special issue celebrating its 25th anniversary. This marks the first fashion moment in over a decade for the designer’s designer. Margiela loyalists and A Magazine true believers will remember that he was the first to curate an issue of the glossy in 2004 after its initial alphabetized publication. Which means it’s only apt for the artist to return to the magazine’s fold to celebrate its quarter century of circulation.
“We were all surprised when an email from Martin Margiela landed in our inbox agreeing to participate in this special issue,” writes A Magazine’s editor-in-chief Blake Abbie in the issue. “Of course, we had hoped he would, but as the Belgian designer and artist has taken a step back from the fashion world since leaving his namesake brand, pivoting his time and energy towards making art, we were not sure what his response to our request would be.”
Margiela has curated the cover, a playful, celebratory iteration of the magazine’s “A” branding, by rendering it as a golden balloon. As a teaser for what his section of the magazine looks like and a callback to his own issue 21 years ago, Margiela has collaged his “A” balloon with his initial cover, which had imagined the “A” in strips of white color swatches. Inside, the artist offers a 16-page collage that juxtaposes imagery from his time as a fashion designer and his current work as an artist. Acolytes will recognize the parallels between his much-referenced collections and this latest work.
The famed Belgian is one of 32 designers that have contributed to this issue. A Magazine invited back some of its most celebrated past curators, including its founder Walter van Beirendonck. Each designer was tasked with curating a segment and offering an iteration of the magazine’s “A.” Kim Jones, for instance, rendered the letter in pink ribbons stylized as his swansong collection at Dior Men—his segment follows the alphabetical theme he utilized in his original issue, except that this time his ABCs are the letters in his own name with guest contributions by friends including Kate Moss and Stephen Jones. The British milliner Jones appears twice in the issue, first in Kim’s section and second in an insert of 24 pages that features conversations between designers. Jones sat with Thom Browne, Kim with Chitose Abe of Sacai, and Simone Rocha with Marni’s Francesco Risso.
