MARTIN MARGIELA 1989

A rare and evocative zine documenting a pivotal moment in fashion history, this publication presents Jean Claude Coutausse’s photographs of Maison Martin Margiela’s seminal 1989 runway show in the Paris banlieue.

Published in 2019 by Dashwood Books, the zine captures an event that has become foundational to the mythology of contemporary fashion. During the show, local children famously climbed over surrounding walls and began walking alongside the models, dissolving the boundary between staged presentation and lived environment.

Rather than disrupting the runway, this spontaneous intervention reinforced Margiela’s anti-hierarchical ethos. The show transformed into a porous space—absorbing the neighborhood, its unpredictability, and its raw energy. Coutausse’s black-and-white photographs render this collision with documentary precision, focusing on gesture, proximity, and the shifting line between audience and participant.

Produced on the occasion of a Dashwood Books signing event accompanying RUNWAY: The Spectacle of Fashion, edited by Alix Browne and published by Rizzoli, the zine functions as both archival record and independent artifact. Its modest, staple-bound format underscores the immediacy of the moment it documents, privileging context and authenticity over conventional luxury.

A concise yet historically resonant publication that captures the radical spirit of late 20th-century fashion practice.

Publisher: Dashwood Books, New York
Year: 2019
Language: English
Format: Softcover, staple bound
Dimensions: 20.4 × 12.6 cm
Condition: Very good / excellent condition. Clean copy with tight staples and well-preserved covers.