A Softer Margiela Still Calls for Tough Accessories
“Less scary” may not be the blueprint you’d expect from Maison Margiela, but it fits the era of Martens’ Margiela. Since Glenn Martens took over as creative director last year, he’s brought an undeniable edge to the brand; his four-stitch mouthpieces for Spring/Summer 2026 were unforgettable, sure, but also a bit nightmare-inducing.
What a difference a year makes. Martens’ second summer collection is still weird, but as we witnessed firsthand during a private re-see for the SS27 collection, there’s a lightness to the dark. Or, as the show title put it: Hard and Soft.
Under the wrong designer, that could be as groundbreaking as florals for spring, but Martens showed exactly why Margiela is in capable hands. The theme didn’t just materialize in the delicate floral prints on dresses and skirts, which provided a livelier contrast to the runway show’s wall-to-wall decaying bouquet installation.
It also appeared in a standout T-shirt dress — airbrushed by Hamburg-born artist Gerrit Jacob, with a swan on a cotton candy pink background — as feather-light as the bird splashed across it. Even the hardest material, a full set of silver dishware, looked impossibly agile despite being melded together into a breastplate.
Peel back the petals a bit more, and Martens’ material expertise shows itself: a sculptural leather trench coat hid a grey check wool underneath its double collar while a ‘70s-style flower-power printed maxi dress wore woolly paneling at its open back.
The eroticism of a high-gloss coating on gingham tops and leather trousers was offset by something far more playful (in a PG kind of way): candy-colored cords, knotted into a net around a canvas bag and wound around the ankles of heeled sandals almost like an adolescent friendship bracelet.
Accessories, a perpetual Margiela standout, hit new highs this season — or, given the way they fold in on themselves due to their own plushness, new lows. Sumptuous leather bags are a house signature but they've never looked quite so... sumptuous. All of this thick brown leather, be it plain grained or textural rib, has the inviting aura of a deflated football.
Even the usually grungy, raw-edged tailoring went soft this season. A gold floral jacquard trench got a second, silver-flowered collar, a houndstooth suit slouched over squishy, pointed lace-ups, and a cream canvas doctor’s bag trimmed in tan leather looked fit for a weekend away.
Which, hey, may actually be possible for Martens now that he’s left Diesel to give Margiela his full focus.
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