CanonAW2000 · 2000
Maison Margiela
Artisanal — Italian Size 78
Martin Margiela
Why it matters
Margiela presented garments in an Italian size 78 — a size that fits nobody yet, with silk-paper fill, could be worn by anybody — making a silent argument that the human hand, not the body, defines couture. The newspaper-print shift dress and oversized tailored suit are held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's permanent collection. The collection remains one of the most cited examples of fashion as conceptual art.
Defining looks
- 01Oversized shift dress with silk-paper filling
- 02Newspaper-print oversized tailored suit
- 03Oversized coat in Italian size 78
Provenance & holdings
Margiela Artisanal runs through the Met's permanent collection — the SS2009 wig coat (2016.231a,b) and the FW1998 vacuum-sealed 'Flatness' dress (2019.235) among them — and the 1989–2006 archive passed through Sotheby's Paris ('Martin Margiela: Hors Normes II', 2021).