Unravel, Spin, Toward the Future: The Threads of Memory Connecting 20 Years of "Maison Margiela Tokyo" — Report on Mio Suzuki's "Unravelled Memory, Rewoven Future"
Mio Suzuki's installation, woven from unraveled tapestry threads, celebrates the 20th anniversary of Maison Margiela Tokyo.Summary
At Maison Margiela Tokyo in Ebisu, Tokyo, artist Mio Suzuki's installation "Unravelled Memory, Rewoven Future" is on view from November 5 to 15. Suzuki collaborated with the historic French tapestry workshop Les Manufactures Nationales – Sèvres & Mobilier National, unraveling vintage tapestries collected from the workshop and Paris flea markets, as well as tapestries created for this project, to craft textile works that spread throughout the store from their threads and fabric fragments. Set in the store, which marks 20 years since relocating to its current location, the layered history of tapestries and the time Maison has carved out in Ebisu intersect within a single work. The exhibition is the second installment of Maison Margiela's "Line 2" project, following the first in September 2025 at the Korean flagship store. Since 1997, Maison has categorized its products by number, and "Line 2" is a newly added framework aimed at generating creation from unexpected combinations, developed across installations, talk events, and campaigns without limiting format. The starting point for the second installment is tapestry as a material. Maison Margiela's core "Artisanal" haute couture collection reconstructs vintage and antique pieces through atelier craftsmanship, and Creative Director Glenn Martens deconstructed vintage tapestries into garments for the 2025 Artisanal Collection and the 2026 Fall/Winter Collection. Following this endeavor, the Maison invited Tokyo-based Suzuki to the project under the advice of art historian Yuko Hasegawa. The collaborating Les Manufactures Nationales – Sèvres & Mobilier National is a cultural institution founded in the 17th century under Louis XIV, which still houses over 1,500 tapestries and continues to create new textiles with artists from France and abroad.
(Source：Tokyo Art Beat)