Remember when Maison Martin Margiela painted the town white in Florence?

As one of the industry’s oldest fashion weeks dedicated to menswear, Pitti Uomo’s guest designer spot is sacred. In recent years, the Italian trade fair has invited luminaries like Martine Rose, Glenn Martens, Shayne Oliver, Jonathan Anderson and Virgil Abloh to debut collections at the event, and has also featured legends such as Vivienne Westwood and Yohji Yamamoto.

Last month, it was revealed that the anonymous fashion collective behind MM6 Maison Margiela would be taking the reins for AW25, promising to create a new “menswear project” specifically for the showcase. In their statement celebrating the appointment, the MM6 design collective expressed the usual gratitudes, saying that they were “honoured and excited to be invited” to “the world’s most important menswear fashion fair”. 

This may be the first time that little sister brand MM6 has occupied the guest spot, it was actually founder Martin Margiela who kicked things off for the label back in 2006, following an invitation to guest design for Pitti Uomo number 69. But despite the fact that Margiela is one of the most celebrated designers of the 21st century – and all of his collections are pored over in minute detail – details on this particular Pitti show are scant.

The only evidence seems to be a grainy video on YouTube with just 49 views, thankfully preserved by the digital curation account Damp Magazines. In the video, a throng of people wait outside a 1940s cinema called Teatro Puccini, before models pull up in expensive-looking cars and on the back of mopeds, hopping off in Margiela’s designs. Inside, the models line up on stage in front of a projector, before making their way down into the onlooking crowd to join the rest of the party.

The offering consisted of reissues from previous Margiela menswear collections, but completely remade in white for this Pitti moment. The designer’s signature patchworking was on show, in jeans, jackets and a shearling coat, while buckled jackets, off-white blazers and thick, cream knits also appeared in the collection. Along with more Margiela signatures like snow-white boilersuits and graphic tees, every model also appeared with silver tape obscuring their eyes, a precursor to the L’Incognito visor, Margiela’s first ever pair of sunglasses that he launched a year later for SS08.

Despite their central part in the show, the clothes weren’t the only thing that was painted white. In a press release provided to us by the Pitti Uomo archives, the brand explained its overarching vision for the show. “From its foundation, Maison Martin Margiela has been known for the universal use of whites used to decorate every element of its ‘world’, the locations it occupies,” read the statement. “The spirit of the Maison Martin Margiela is brought to Pitti through a series of stands, shops, and facilities, all conceived in many shades of white, typical of Maison Martin Margiela.”

Outside of Teatro Puccini and across the venue there were flags, billboards, a newspaper stand, vending machines, gift shops and even an ice cream parlour, but all made in Margiela’s signature white. If all that wasn’t enough, a giant hot air balloon with a – you guessed it – bright white exterior floated above the venue. For Margiela, Pitti Uomo 69 wasn’t just a fashion show, but an all-encompassing cinematic experience, a master in his prime committed to painting the town white.