Volkswacht Bodensee - Fashion's mystery man Margiela sells off his archives

Fans of the 69-year-old trailblazer, who retired in 2009, will be able to snap up artefacts ranging from sketches to one of his white work coats at an auction in Paris on Thursday that Margiela personally supervised.

But anyone hoping to learn more about one of the most enigmatic characters in fashion is likely to be disappointed, with the sale barely lifting the veil on the man behind the stripped-back brand of monochrome clothing.

"This sale is a creative act, and also a manifestation of his concept, his philosophy," auctioneer Salome Pirson from Maurice Auction told AFP during a tour of the items.

"He's giving the public the opportunity to discover his inner world, to touch his objects, to own his personal coat, but at the same time, he is the one who is most conspicuously absent," she added.

More than 3,000 people have lined up to see the collection featuring a prototype of one of the face masks he obliged models to wear to avoid distracting from the clothes, or champagne corks from bottles drunk to celebrate with some of his earliest clients.

Other items include Barbie dolls used as mannequins and a purple velvet badge to raise awareness about AIDS, with a message reading "There is more action to be taken than to wear this badge but it is a good start."

Margiela's motivations for selling his personal items range from clearing out his storage to personally overseeing the dispersal of the items of fashion history to collectors and institutions.

"He is 69 years old, he has no heirs, and in one way, by organising this sale, he is arranging his own legacy by putting all the potential buyers who might be interested in competition with one another," Pirson said.

Given his huge following in Japan, many Japanese buyers are expected to bid in the sale which will be held in-person and online. Museums and other institutions will also be competing.

Margiela was barely ever photographed, never gave media interviews, and shunned the industry convention adopted by most of his peers of taking a bow in public at the end of a catwalk show.

In a rare effort to engage with fans, he collaborated on a retrospective of his work held at the Palais Galliera museum in Paris in 2018.

The auction will also include Hermes items designed by Margiela while he worked as creative director at the French label from 1997-2003.

The items were all gifted to his late mother.

K.Hofmann--VB