Maison Margiela Brand
Maison Margiela - Nighthawk: The 2024 Artisanal Film Premiere
Luxferity, 02.10.2024
Documentation is a memory monumentalised in time: an encounter worth remembering. On 30th September 2024 at 8.30 PM in Cinema Le Balzac, Maison Margiela premieres Nighthawk, a horror vignette based on an original story by John Galliano. Founded in the proposition that opened the 2024 Artisanal Show in January 2024 – “Would you like to take a walk with me, offline?” – the cinematic experience elucidates and elaborates the haute couture collection for posterity. In a fast-paced culture, it serves as an articulated desire to be present in the moment, and in the memory;
values key to Maison Margiela.
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Directed by Sasha Kasiuha, Nighthawk features Kim Kardashian, Gwendoline Christie and Monica Bellucci as part of an ensemble cast composed of the Maison’s muses. They include Lulu Tenney, Leon Dame and Frederic Bittner, who also make physical appearances at the premiere as part of the film’s four-dimensional storytelling. Blurring the lines between real life and fiction, this enactment explores the theme of illusion versus reality central to the practice of John Galliano at Maison Margiela. The screening is accompanied by a live string quartet performing music synchronised with the score of the film. The premiere of Nighthawk is by invitation only and livestreamed to digital audiences.
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In the wake of its presentation in Paris on 25th January 2024, the Maison Margiela 2024 Artisanal Show set in motion an inspiring and infectious wave of enthusiasm from multi-faceted audiences. On digital channels, the collection’s impact saw communities from around the world imitate and mythologise the creations, hair and make-up of the characters that embodied its narrative. In editorial publishing, industry creatives reframed it within new visual environments, expanding the storytelling of the show. Created for the Maison Margiela community and any audiences it might inspire, Nighthawk emulates that spirit in an eternal memory of a noteworthy moment in time.
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Nighthawk: A docufiction horror vignette
Envisioned in a docufiction format, Nighthawk escalates the haute couture collection’s fictional narrative while simultaneously revealing the painstaking technical process work that brought it to life. Directed by the New York City-based multi-disciplinary artist Sasha Kasiuha, the film is infused with the elements of horror that possessed the show. The story interweaves a re-telling of the show’s original cinematic precursor with intimate behind-the-scenes footage from the creative process. In an epic climax to the story, previously unreleased moving imagery from the show is re-contextualised through a silent film lens.
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The film is narrated in part by John Galliano, who reflects on the inspirations, storytelling and experimental dressmaking that shaped the 2024 Artisanal universe. A standalone piece, Nighthawk introduces new moving imagery as well as appearances by members of the Maison Margiela community, from collaborators to muses and audiences. Featured vocal cameos include Dame Pat McGrath, who created the show’s make-up looks, Duffy who sculpted the hair; Kim Kardashian with whom Maison Margiela collaborated on an Artisanal creation for the 2024 Met Gala; and Gwendoline Christie, who closed the show wearing the collection’s final look.
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The practice of John Galliano is informed by narratives. Spun from his own imagination, the stories and the characters who embody them are not limited to single seasons, but rather, omnipresently evolved from collection to collection. Illustrating this intertextual drive, the film continues the chronicles of Count and Hen, the protagonistic muses first introduced to audiences in the Southern Gothic tale Cinema Inferno, the Maison Margiela 2022 Artisanal Collection. Through parallel universes created by four-dimensional storytelling, the characters appear on screen walking through the hallways of Cinema Le Balzac where the screening takes place. As audiences hear their thoughts play out in the film, Count and Hen materialise in the theatre in real life and take their seats among the spectators.
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The characters are played by Lulu Tenney and Leon Dame, the muses who portrayed them in Cinema Inferno. As part of the plot, the muse Frederic Bittner features in a POV sequence – wearing a corseted suit from the 2024 Artisanal Show – before also appearing physically in person in Cinema Le Balzac. The reality-versus-fiction element becomes a figurative reflection of haute couture’s ability to bring illusions to life through the practical magic of this highest form of dressmaking. Highlighting the real-life connections that this craftsmanship creates with audiences – as illustrated by the unbridled creativity unleashed by the 2024 Artisanal Collection – it underpins the film’s raison d’être as an antidote to a world where one’s tastes are often data-driven and informed by algorithms. Nighthawk is a reaction to a culture of fast fashion, conceived to inspire across generations and platforms.
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