An extensive collection of early Martin Margiela designs is set to hit the auction block in Paris on Jan. 27, during Haute Couture Week. The collection — owned by Angela and Elena Picozzi, daughters of Graziella Picozzi, an Italian designer and early admirer of Martin Margiela — consists of 300 lots of clothing, sketches and other items. Hosting auction houses Kerry Taylor and Maurice Auction say it will be the largest-ever single auction of Margiela items.
Notable pieces include cigarette-shouldered suits, trousers with jabot bras, painted canvas jackets, a pannier bag ensemble and clear vinyl tops from the designer’s formative Spring/Summer 1990 show alongside a ‘curtain’ skirt from Autumn/Winter 1991 (expected to fetch between €2500 and €3500 euros or $2600 to $3600) and priests’ cassocks from Autumn/Winter 1992. Also included in the range are designs from a project, called “!” that Graziella Picozzi and Margiela collaborated on for four seasons, before he started his namesake brand.
“We always considered these items an important part of fashion history that ought to be protected. Over time, we realised how important it is that Martin’s talent and vision be enhanced, studied, told, and, why not, worn. And that’s why we are selling today,” said Angela and Elena in a statement.
Items by the enigmatic designer — who left the fashion fold in 2009 — have been popping up at auction recently. In both 2019 and 2021, Sotheby’s put over 200 Margiela pieces from private collections under the hammer.
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After headline pieces — sometimes formerly owned by celebrities or featured on TV — sell for blockbuster prices, they can end up pretty much anywhere, from museums to collectors’ closets.
