Maison Margiela marks 20 years of its Tokyo store with new 'MaisonMargiela/folders' chapter

French fashion house Maison Margiela is celebrating 20 years of its store at 2-8-13 Ebisu Minami in Tokyo with a new chapter of its research and documentation project 'MaisonMargiela/folders'. The anniversary programme includes a history of the store, a limited-edition zine and an installation in the store itself.

The Tokyo store also marks the start of the house's retail history. In September 2000, 12 years after the house was founded, Maison Margiela opened its first-ever store not in Paris, Antwerp or Brussels, but in a 1940s traditional wooden house, or minka, at 3-3-3 Ebisu Minami, in a residential part of Tokyo's Shibuya ward. At the time, luxury brands tended to open in districts such as Omotesando or Ginza, while the Ebisu house was around 20 minutes by car from the nearest luxury shopping area.

Japan as a long-standing source of inspiration

According to the brand, the choice reflects its long relationship with Japan. Founder Martin Margiela and the Antwerp Six travelled there frequently during the 1980s and 1990s, exchanging ideas with designers including Rei Kawakubo.

On one of those trips, Margiela encountered the jika-tabi, a rubber-soled work shoe derived from the traditional split-toe tabi sock, which he reinterpreted as a heeled boot. Models wore the Tabi at the house's first show in 1988, for spring/summer 1989, and the design remains part of the collections today.

When the store had to relocate in 2006, Maison Margiela chose to stay in Ebisu rather than move to a more commercial location. It settled in a former electrical products factory at 2-8-13 Ebisu Minami, a five-minute walk from the original site.

The brand says several team members have worked in the store since the beginning. Over the years, it has hosted exhibitions and events marking key moments in the house's creative history, including a 2019 exhibition of the Artisanal Co-Ed collection for spring/summer 2019 and a 2024 exhibition of the final Artisanal collection by John Galliano.

Zine and Line 2 installation

'MaisonMargiela/folders' is the house's platform for sharing archival material and the codes that define it. The first chapter, released in April 2026, explored the origins of four of its foundational codes: Artisanal, Bianchetto, Tabi and Anonymity.

The new chapter documents how the store came to be. It includes memories from the store team, a closer look at the Tabi, interviews with Tabi collectors and locals from the Ebisu community, and a portrait of the district. The first files, a history of Maison Margiela Tokyo, were released on October 20.

On November 5, a limited-edition zine will be distributed exclusively in the store and across the Ebisu district, and will also be made available online. It contains a Line 2 insert with a dialogue between Tokyo-based artist Mio Suzuki and French historic tapestry manufacturer Les Manufactures Nationales, Sèvres & Mobilier National.

The two collaborated on a Line 2 installation that opens in the store on the same day. The house invited art historian Yuko Hasegawa to commission the project, which will be on view to the public until November 15.

The zine will also be added to the archive. The files of all chapters are publicly accessible via the Maison Margiela website.