The name Martin Margiela is well-known in the fashion world, but he himself is less so. Despite magazine features and his name scrawled across minimalist boutique windows, the designer remains as much a mystery as the white, wordless tags attached to his chic clothes.

Until now. A new documentary film, Martin Margiela: In His Own Words, opens today on Virtual Cinema (opens in a new tab). The film offers an intimate portrait of fashion's most elusive figure and sheds light on the man behind the label.

Margiela made waves in the fashion world with his first show in 1989. From the beginning, Margiela wanted the clothes to speak for themselves. Margiela stayed backstage and did little press except for a few faxed interviews, avoiding fame and celebrity. Then, in 2009, at the height of his career, he left his eponymous fashion house without saying goodbye in public, further entering his preferred state of anonymity. Since making that bold decision, he has been rarely seen and has become the so-called "Banksy of the fashion world."

So, in an unprecedented but fitting move, Margiela kept his face hidden in the film. Director Rainer Holzemer respected this decision. To this day, he prefers to remain anonymous," Holzemer told Marie Claire in an interview from his home in Munich. 'He wants to be able to go to a café in Paris for a cup of coffee and not be noticed by anyone.'

After making a documentary on designer Dries Van Noten, Holzemer wanted to continue turning his camera on the fashion world. The Margiela exhibition in Antwerp convinced Holzemer of his next theme. I couldn't stop thinking about Margiela and reading about him," Holzemer said. I told my co-producer that I wanted to get in touch with him. She told me that he would not do interviews and that no one had given him permission to be photographed in the last 30 years. I felt lucky."

Convincing the fashion world's invisible man to follow the video camera for months was no easy task. You had to be very, very patient," Holzemer says. He put out a request to someone he knew, and three or four months later, he received an e-mail response from the designer himself. Initially, Margiela thought the film would document the 2018 retrospective at the Palais Galliera in Paris, but Holzemer had a different idea. After Margiela expressed some difficulty, Holzemer agreed to make a film about the exhibition, even though he thought it would be "pretty boring." It was a way to build trust, one of the most important tools for a documentarian. It worked: six weeks later, Holzemer received a handwritten note from Margiela agreeing to collaborate on the documentary. It took another month for the Belgian designer to agree to use his voice in the film, and even longer for the very introverted man to agree to share his childhood memories. Says Holzemer, "It was always persuasive, always a process."

Over the course of about a year, Holzemer was able to capture footage of Margiela's atelier, the designer's hands flipping through sketches, fashion show clips, and the work of designer and mentor Jean Paul Gaultier, fashion icon Carine Roitfeld, fashion critic The collection includes over 200 hours of film, including interviews with people who know and respect Margiela, such as Cathy Horyn. The film is a collaboration between Holzemer and Margiela, and follows his life from his childhood in Belgium, to his student days at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, to his work with Jean Paul Gaultier, to his appointment to the esteemed Hermès maison, and to running his own company. The video documents Margiela's creative outfits, his rise to the world of haute couture (even though he refused the position), and the gorgeous, meticulously detailed pieces that became synonymous with Capital F fashion.

One of the film's most memorable moments is when Margiela recalls an art school project in which he made a jacket from a tea towel. This project ushered in a theme that continues to this day in Margiela's clothing: the transformation of the mundane into art. Military socks became sweaters, wigs became coats, porcelain gave birth to waistcoats, and even plastic bags were repurposed into tops. When Margiela describes the process, he makes turning grocery bags into high fashion sound like the most natural idea in the world. From his split-toe Tabibi boots (opens in new tab) to his beloved flat sleeveless jackets (opens in new tab), his descriptions of his radical imaginative creations flow throughout the film, leaving little time for the viewer to recognize how revolutionary his look was

As a collaborator, he was a great example of the "revolutionary" look.

As a collaborator, Margiela tells a story he wants people to remember. He takes the time to talk about his breakup with longtime business partner Jenny Merens, his controversial and edgy work at the usually staid Hermès, and his decision to accept an investment from Italian fashion entrepreneur and founder of Diesel, Renzo Rosso. He sets the record straight. He is diplomatic about it all, and is tight-lipped about details he doesn't want to dwell on, such as his last days at the fashion house. It wasn't his first choice to talk about this moment in his career," Holzemer explains. It was very painful for him. Holzemer believes that Margiela is very happy to have put it all behind him: "He wanted to make a positive documentary. He wanted to make a positive documentary. Margiela said, "I wanted to talk about the fun parts of the fashion world and encourage young people to follow their dreams."

The film is both a retrospective of the creator's life and a reminder of how influential Margiela's work continues to be. His anti-fashion fashions, oversized silhouettes, repurposed garments, and deconstructed outfits paved the way for countless designers such as Raf Simons, Rick Owens, Alexander McQueen, and Jacquemus, and influenced couture and streetwear in He has influenced both. As Roitfeld says in the film, "Margiela exists to this day."

While Margiela's name still appears in stores and his imprint on fashion remains as indelible as ever, it is true that he has long since disappeared from the fashion world. But that absence may not be permanent.

At the end of the film, Holzemer asks Margiela if he has already said everything he wants to say in fashion. Margiela quickly and confidently replies with a single word: "No."