Produced by Shoichi Aoki & Noriko Kojima in 1999, Maison Martin Margiela Street Special Edition was their master plan of introducing Martin Margiela’s & Jenny Meirens’ creative endeavors to the fashion community in Japan through their 14 year old magazine dedicated to Japanese street fashion. In 1995, Aoki & Kojima approached the Parisan fashion house via STREET Magazine with a proposal to collaborate and showcase the work of Margiela to his beloved Japanese community. The growing fashion house, with about 6 years and 12 collections in their soon-to-be archive, agreed and began providing unpublished content the world has never seen before.

The two volumes covered all of Maison Martin Margiela’s collections up to Spring/Summer 1999, as well as the first presentation of 10, a men's wardrobe, and Maison Martin Margiela's participation in three exhibitions held in Brussels, Florence and Rotterdam. The beauty of the two volumes is that Maison Martin Margiela had full creative control of the images used and the layout of the two volumes. It offered an in-depth behind-the-scenes perspective for one of the most cryptic fashion brands with arguably the most mysterious fashion designers of our time. The book is filled with images of collection sample notes, atelier pattern notes, runway casting grids, and so much more. It is quite an intimate experience into fashion history’s mysterious hermit and his work.

​

​

Writer: Art V.