Martin Margiela Leaves Fashion House

Iconic Belgian designer Martin Margiela has left his fashion house, Maison Martin Margiela, it was announced Tuesday. The company will continue to operate without its creative director—whose annual compensation was estimated to be €5 million—and he will not be replaced. Margiela, who is famously reclusive and has almost never been photographed, reportedly departed quietly from his company. According to The New York Times, Margiela’s avant-garde touch had been absent from recent collections—a sign to insiders that he was long gone from his fashion house. Giovanni Pungetti, chief executive for Maison Martin Margiela, told the Times: “It would have been very simple to hire someone else, and we evaluated that option, but in the end, what is important is the taste of the designer.”