maison martin margiela in tokyo

‘a wardrobe for men’ by martin margiela image © designboom

this first maison martin margiela store opened in tokyo in 2000. located in the ebisu area of the city, the former residence incorporates the offices and sales rooms of kokonoe corp ltd., (the joint venture company in charge of the mason martin marginal brand in japan), as well as a store on the ground floor. in february 2006, the store mores to another location in a former electrical products factory building, still in the ebisu area.

during tokyo designers week 2010 designboom visited the shop to view the new 2010 collection, alongside other iconic products from the fashion house.

image © designboom

for the interior he has continued with his iconographic use of white. much of the factory’s original interior components are still intact, preserving the industrial feel of the building. built-in storage units now act as display cabinets for the maison martin margiela collection.

image © designboom

storage system left over from when the building was used as an electrical products factory image © designboom

a ‘trestle’ table used for displaying jewelry image © designboom

previous version of ‘groupe’ sofa image © designboom

recuperation, transformation and reinterpretation are the essential concepts of maison martin margiela’s aesthetic expression. for italian company cerruti baleri‘s 2010 collection he designed the ‘groupe’ and ’emmanuelle’ furniture pieces which are used to arrange sitting areas within the store.

‘groupe’ sofa for cerruti baleri image © designboom

a cinema in the store shows videos of the latest collections by martin margiela image © designboom

a cinema within the store houses vintage theatre chairs, where people can sit and view the l atest collections by martin margiela.

in some areas, metal cladding is used to divide the space image © designboom

a ‘clothes rack’ hanger rack image © designboom

floor standing hanger racks are mounted on the wall, to create alternative storage and display areas for the clothes.

image © designboom

in some areas of the store, wallpaper which martin margiela designed for ENO, cover the walls. the graphics are suggestive of ‘paint by numbers’. the atmosphere draws on his simple use of black and wall, with the images depicted looking like the trompe l’oeil walls of a european apartment, showing a fireplace, doors, carved wood panels…

old suitcases and travelling cases are stacked to create display ‘tables’.

maison martin margiela in tokyo

martin margiela (10)

tokyo designers week 2010 (55)