Ahlers felt it was time to let it all goor at least, let most of it go.
Well, were about to find out.
The first piece I saw was a little felted wool vest.
Photographed by Annie Leibovitz,Vogue, September 2008
He said, So how muchcouldyou spend?
I told him, and he said, You know what?
I will give you a discount.
I am sure you will be a great Margiela customer in the future.
I still have that caban jacket.
A few years later, Margielas commercial director called me.
I had three weeks to get myself to Paris to start work.
And then, in 2006, I left.
It was a hard decision because its such an emotional company.
I handed in my notice on the day of the 2005 Christmas party.
Martin came up to me and said, Christina, I heard you are leaving.
There are so many exciting things happening.
Dont you love the brand anymore?
And I said, Martin, I am leaving because I love the brand too much.
My favorite category of Martins clothing was always outerwear.
My favorite collections were the flat collection [spring 1998] and the oversized collection [fall 2000].
My budget exploded with thoseI had to pay them off over several months!
Wearing Margiela, for me, was between armor and uniform: It gave you strength from the inside.
The pieces I bought…. Its not like you recognize its Margiela.
Its that they have a presence.
); others fit but didnt have the look I wanted now.
Martins clothes are at their best when theyre being worn and telling their story.
I sent Gill [Linton] an email and asked if she would be interested.
When she came to my apartment and saw the collection, you could see its beauty through her eyes.
And it might sound silly, but every single piece of his that I owned had a soul.
We started because you couldnt really find anything like this [the vintage Martin Margiela].
It was really hard.
Fast-forward, and the market is completely saturated.
Its why our motto is just because its old doesnt mean it is good.
A lot of time with vintage, you have to take the prices with a pinch of salt.
Weve sold a lot of it.
We did a huge sale in 2017 with a collection of rare pieces, including a ton of Tabis.
Sometimes at Byronesque, we fall into the trap of asking ourselves, Is it really special?
Does it belong in a museum?
This was the first time I thought:I would buy this stuff.
Christina is in the famous Annie Leibovitz photo of the Margiela team.
But he didnt, so its an empty chair.
Can we come by?
We had a little more than 150 pieces, some still with original tags, some only lightly worn.
We hear that a lot.
To the naked eye, thats just a pair of pants.
But then you look again.
We did the sale by appointment only because there can be a lot of time wasters.
I wanted to eliminate that.
Somebody registered, came in, and spent an hour taking photos for their Instagram feed.
Thats what I was trying to avoid; its disrespectful.
People dont often take into account the emotional value of somethingonly the financial.
I first learned of Margiela when I went to school in Los Angeles.
There was no hanger appeal.
People had no idea how to wear it or of Martins philosophy.
She understood it could be part of a wearable lifestyle, this…intelligent simplicity.
She loved Martins tailoring.
And I started to go to Paris with her and to the Margiela shows.
I was buying Margiela for myself with…an urgency.
It just felt like we didnt have time.
That was Margiela for me.
Ive always loved discreet, original pieces.
I love finding a treasure I can wear again and again, a no-brainer favorite.
His tuxedo jackets are incredible, exquisite.
This sale was the first time I bought vintage Margiela.
I discovered Byronesque through my friend Michele Lamy.
It felt like it might have come from the 19th century.
Thats what I also love about his pieces: the period references.
I bought a handful of trousers because I live in them.
To this day, I have never found a better pant, ever.
I bought another trench too.
I went to that Xerox show.
Martin took all of these silhouettes and scanned them onto silk or cotton.
There was wine being served in plastic cups, and the runway was made of long card tables.
Then you could hear footsteps but couldnt see anyone; it was just this haunting sound.
It was such an emotional contrastvery provoking, a statement about society.
When Id go to his shows, I was always hoping to run into Martin.
It was always my thing: Will I ever see this man that I am so devoted to?
