Anyone hoping to finally
view the face of the elusive Belgian designer in the new documentary Martin
Margiela: In His Own Words, which had its global premier at the Doc
NYC film festival on Friday, will be disappointed. The camera focuses only
on the designer’s hands, and archives and footage of the influential work
made by those hands. We must be content with the fact that Margiela finally
talks us through the period of his eponymous label, 1989 - 2009, before he
walked away from fashion for good. Although as director Reiner Holzemer
tells the audience, even his voice has been altered slightly to preserve
Margiela’s intense desire for the protection of anonymity.