After walking away from fashion in 2009, Belgian designer Martin Margiela is back. Now, however, his focus isn't on clothing, as he will soon be sharing his work as an artist.

Margiela's artwork will appear in an exhibition at the Lafayette Anticipations gallery in Paris from April 15 to July 25. Simply called Martin Margiela, the installation includes previously-unseen photographs, sculptures, and other artistic pieces by the renowned fashion designer.

“This exhibition celebrates the idea that Martin Margiela has always been an artist, whose work has played out since, within and outside the art world,” the gallery said in a statement shared by the Guardian. “[He] has always made us look at things with fresh eyes. Going against the grain he cultivated an obsession for discreet people, abandoned objects and forgotten places and events, bestowing on them a new dignity.”

Margiela retired from fashion in 2009 after executing 41 runway shows between 1989 and 2009. He has long been known for keeping a low profile, insisting no pictures be taken of him, giving no face-to-face interviews, and foregoing the appearance at the end of fashion shows.

“He was sick of the system of having to do so many collections a year,” Reiner Holzemer, the director of the documentary Martin Margiela: In His Own Words, told the Guardian of Margiela's retirement. “After he left, he suffered physically and it took him a year to recover from the stress.”

Following such a prolonged absence from the public eye, there will undoubtedly be a renewed enthusiasm surrounding all things Margiela leading up to his Paris art exhibition and beyond. You can look forward to imagery from the installation being revealed at the end of January.