Latest news with #Martens
Hamilton Spectator
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
New west Niagara business Willow Dawn hopes success is in the (tarot) cards
Breanne Martens has brought her tarot card reading skills and support for local artisans to the heart of downtown Beamsville. 'From going to a bunch of different events and fairs and festivals, I connected with so many people and really felt there was a need for a space like this,' said Martens who opened Willow Dawn at 4968 King St. (across the street from Beamsville Towne Centre plaza) on June 1. 'We support over 20 local artisans and vendors who make really cool one-of-a-kind items.' Those items include clothing, crystals, candles, decor, jewelry, lotions, potions, metaphysical supplies and other witchy wares. The business also offers registered massage therapy and reiki (a form of energy healing) on site. Martens said she is particularly known for her tarot card reading at events and festivals, adding she has done thousands of readings over the years. 'I've been reading for myself and a select group of friends and family since I was 12, and I've been reading professionally full time since 2021,' said the 39-year-old Beamsville resident. 'People take as much or as little out of readings as they do. Tarot is a tool to help people to sort through their own feelings and emotions.' Tarot cards were invented in Italy in the 1430s and used in games or for fortune telling or divination. Martens noted readings from the 78-card deck are more popular than ever. 'A lot of it has happened since COVID,' Martens said. 'Tarot is an awesome way for people to connect with themselves.' During the festival season, Martens said she will do as many as 200 tarot card readings a week. See for more information.
Elle
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Elle
Kennedy Yanko Plays Dress-Up at Maison Margiela's Couture Show in Paris
It's a sultry summer late afternoon in Paris, and the air inside Suite 403 at Le Meurice—the grande dame hotel perched regally over the Jardin des Tuileries—is thick with anticipation, perfume, and that certain brand of old-world opulence only the French can perfect. Gilded moldings, toile de Jouy armchairs, and ornate mirrors set the scene as artist Kennedy Yanko prepares for her first-ever haute couture show: Maison Margiela, designed by newly-minted creative director Glenn Martens. 'I feel like I'm playing dress-up,' Yanko laughs, sliding on a pair of stormy grey Margiela gloves that sweep dramatically past her elbows—an accessory her grandmother Juanita, a lifelong glove devotee, would no doubt admire. She lounges effortlessly on an antique chair, her sculptural blonde waves pinned with precision, channeling the elegance of a 1930s film star with a Miami edge. Her look for the evening is pure Margiela seduction: a soft grey cashmere sweater casually slipping off one shoulder, a sheer black lace skirt that reveals just enough, and those impossibly chic Tabi pumps paired with delicate lace socks. A slouchy, perfectly worn Margiela bag in deep oxblood leather ties it all together. 'It's classic Margiela,' she says. 'There's this incredible sheerness and texture play—it's both hard and soft, sculptural yet fluid. It reminds me of my own work.' Yanko's sculptures—an alchemical fusion of metal and paint skins—grapple with tension: weight and lightness, vulnerability and power. 'I approach dressing the same way,' she tells me between sips of espresso. 'It's about responsivity—how I feel that day, the space I'm in, the energy I want to carry.' Tonight, that energy is reverence. Maison Margiela's fall 2025 collection—staged at Le Centquatre, a vast industrial arts space—is a triumph of Gothic sensuality and material mastery. Martens, ever the Flemish romantic, draws from the towering cathedrals of Northern Europe, weaving ecclesiastical grandeur into corseted silhouettes, veiled figures, and lavish textures inspired by 16th-century Flemish interiors. Trompe l'oeil brushstrokes reminiscent of Gustave Moreau transform bodies into canvases, while crushed velvets, aged brocades, and repurposed plastics collide in breathtaking fashion. As we drive through the Parisian streets en route to the show, Yanko muses on Martens's singular genius. 'He's a true materialist,' she says, her voice tinged with admiration. 'There's such curiosity in his work—this push and pull between construction and deconstruction. I feel completely aligned with his ethos.' Inside the venue, the audience is met with a surreal mise-en-scène: walls and floors covered in collages of palatial interiors, chairs haphazardly scattered like a decadent afterparty in some forgotten château. The show begins, and from the first look, it's clear that Martens is leading us deep into the labyrinth. Two standout moments captivate our attention. Look 10, a gilded, heart-shaped skirt woven with metal threads and printed with vintage floral leather wallpaper motifs, is pure opulence. Worn with a corseted body and matching Tabis, it radiates the aura of a Renaissance painting reanimated for the modern age—one can almost hear the whispered intrigue of Medici salons. Then comes Look 38—otherworldly, erotic, unforgettable. A floor-length, skin-toned jersey gown with a built-in corset that seems to melt into the body, its draped sleeves cascading into the skirt with hypnotic fluidity. The model's face is veiled, a towering necklace of vintage emerald costume jewels coiling around her throat like some medieval relic. It's Saint Teresa in Ecstasy meets Helmut Newton—divine, provocative, and utterly Margiela. Backstage after the show, Yanko's eyes are still wide with wonder. 'Those pieces are for tomorrow,' she breathes. 'The yellow one—the volume, the texture—it was divine. Honestly, some of those looks She giggles, then adds: 'I don't know how this moment will manifest in my own work yet, but I'll be dreaming about it for a long time.' As we step out into the Paris night, it's clear that Yanko, much like the maison itself, understands that couture isn't merely about fantasy. It's about rebellion, rarity, and the eternal seduction of craft—one exquisite stitch, one sculpted silhouette at a time. 'I mean…the gloves, the bag—what else do you really need?' 'It's giving Miami meets Paris, with just a hint of trouble.' 'This is my version of stepping out for the night—fully suited in Margiela.' 'Sometimes I get ready just to watch myself transform—it's part of the art.' 'Why not turn the closet into a stage? It's couture, after all.' 'Even when I'm sitting still, it's all part of the performance.' 'The gloves, the glasses…they always set the tone before I step out.' 'This bag has seen some things. Tonight, it's coming with me.'
Vogue Singapore
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue Singapore
Glenn Martens makes his debut for Maison Margiela
Whatever it was that we witnessed at the Glenn Martens Margiela debut, it was wrapped up in an an apparition of fearsome beauty. In basement chambers lined with layers of peeling paper, a collection of elababorately masked people evoked Gothic sculpture and strange, antiqued and patch-worked surfaces, sometimes almost as if they'd sprung from the walls themselves. It takes some guts for a designer to follow both John Galliano and Martin Margiela, especially straight into presenting the Artisanal collection—the equivalent of haute couture at this house. It needed someone bold and fearless enough to seize that challenge, yet smart and skilled enough not to stumble obliviously over a storied past that many in fashion hold sacred. Martens proved himself to be that person: a designer who brings his own peculiarly Belgian sensibility to a label founded by a Belgian. If we've been craving a frisson from fashion, now here it was, arriving in a strange, characterful form, a vision fraught with poetic imagery rising from dark corners of mediaeval history to give a new, cracked gloss to the upcycling and repurposing foundations of the house. 'I'm from Bruges, which has this whole gloomy, Gothic kind of gloominess,' Martens said in a preview. 'Bruges has this austere vibe of Flanders, which, of course, very much connects with Martin. I'm different from that generation, but I think a lot of designers are—Martin changed the way we look at clothes. So it's a massive honour and very humbling experience to be part of the house, and of course coming after John Galliano, the biggest couturier in history, is even more humbling.' In a symbolic way, Martens made it about a house, starting from the richly decayed texture of 17th century Flemish embossed leather wallpaper, antique drapes, and the Dutch flower and 'nature morte' still lives of game that might have hung in homes of that time. 'I am not a minimalist,' he laughed. In his mind, the decaying surfaces of the precious wallpaper made a connection with the painted and patch-worked techniques Margiela used in his first collection. And then Martens was off, fashioning a collection that was one-third upcycled, making use of paper, photocopying, hand-painting, junk jewellery, and tin plates beaten into some of the masks. He began with clear plastic looks which referred, he said, to blown glass. Maybe also to Margiela's dry-cleaning collection? After, he took it in a wholly Martens way: two spectral figures conjured from Gothic church statuary, a disturbing confrontation, surely, with the deathly portents stalking our times. Then, the luminescent wonder of the figures swathed and swagged about in Martens's metallised velvet drapes. There were recycled biker jackets—a Margiela staple—but covered over with paper patchworks of wallpaper print. 'Chapters' (as Martens called them) of more delicate things followed: tulle feathers, wings, or flowers blooming from the surfaces of prints, fluttering cut-outs of lace peeling from sheer dresses. But the total-chill moment came when his three draped jersey dresses, ghostly, caped, and body-veiling walked amongst us. Underneath these miraculously constructed sepulchral shrouds were corsets of a strange construction, jutting the hips and rising in a busk in the front. In that, it could be read that Martens made his acknowledgement to Galliano. As a first outing, it was stupendous. Though it should not be forgotten that Martens has hardly sprung from nowhere. At 42, he's in that bracket of designers who have had long experience from an early age (in his case, his own brand, Y/Project, Diesel, and a Gaultier couture season). These are the ones who have risen to the top at this moment to face off against each other for the fashion supremacy challenge of 2025. In Glenn Martens, Maison Margiela has surely found its ideal defender. Courtesy of Maison Margiela 1 / 12 Look 1 Courtesy of Maison Margiela 2 / 12 Look 4 Courtesy of Maison Margiela 3 / 12 Look 9 Courtesy of Maison Margiela 4 / 12 Look 10 Courtesy of Maison Margiela 5 / 12 Look 13 Courtesy of Maison Margiela 6 / 12 Look 23 Courtesy of Maison Margiela 7 / 12 Look 28 Courtesy of Maison Margiela 8 / 12 Look 34 Courtesy of Maison Margiela 9 / 12 Look 38 Courtesy of Maison Margiela 10 / 12 Look 47 Courtesy of Maison Margiela 11 / 12 Look 48 Courtesy of Maison Margiela 12 / 12 Look 49 This article was originally published by
Fashion Network
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Fashion Network
Maison Margiela Artisanal: Martens makes a stumbling debut
In a quiet haute couture season in Paris, the city needed a major wow-factor debut, but it did not really get one at Glenn Martens ' first show for Maison Margiela Artisanal on Wednesday night. There were undoubtedly some moments of real magic, notably some highly distinctive aviary action – from sublime feathered looks, to some bold and brilliant tailored coats made in a Renaissance style prints of game birds. The final evening dresses in crepe and silk finished in small clouds of lace showed a highly skilled draper at work. To those, we add a kicky series of mashed up interior fabrics, which one imagined founder Martin Margiela would have loved. However, the decision to cover every model's head with a mask, skullcap or even cooper pot eventually felt tired and repetitive. It also meant many of the cast were forced to plod ponderously around the show space. Post-show, many iPhone videos that editors shot looked like slo-mos even if they were filmed in real time. Staged in 104, a north Paris art and theater show-space where Martin Margiela staged shows, the set was a mock marble palace that had fallen on hard times. Martens' opening looks had plenty of punch: a series of dresses and gowns made in scrunched up plastic, with no underwear visible. Their accompanying masks were scrunched up plastic too. A splendid conical dress followed in a shade of degraded concrete, with lining and skullcap made of silvery beading. Born as the conceptual brand par excellence, a series on dark suits or the house's signature painted jeans covered in muddy plastic seemed logical. Then Glenn went into overdrive with two humungous yellow gold and blackened silver metallic dresses, leotards and masks were superbly theatrical. However, while the clothes must have been complicated to make they were clearly even more complicated to wear. Many models could barely move their legs. And the cast hesitated to even turn as they marched through the various rooms and corridors of the set. Several strums of a Spanish guitar announced the beginning of this show, whose crescendo was The Smashing Pumpkins' "Disarm". But this show did not disarm or enchant. Martens always had a hard act to follow, seeing as the final couture show of his predecessor was the most acclaimed fashion show of the decade. Martens has always been a very talented designer, and still seems a good fit for Margiela. However, all told, this show looked like a pale shadow of that final epic Galliano display.
Fashion Network
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Fashion Network
Maison Margiela Artisanal: Martens makes a stumbling debut
In a quiet haute couture season in Paris, the city needed a major wow-factor debut, but it did not really get one at Glenn Martens ' first show for Maison Margiela Artisanal on Wednesday night. There were undoubtedly some moments of real magic, notably some highly distinctive aviary action – from sublime feathered looks, to some bold and brilliant tailored coats made in a Renaissance style prints of game birds. The final evening dresses in crepe and silk finished in small clouds of lace showed a highly skilled draper at work. To those, we add a kicky series of mashed up interior fabrics, which one imagined founder Martin Margiela would have loved. However, the decision to cover every model's head with a mask, skullcap or even cooper pot eventually felt tired and repetitive. It also meant many of the cast were forced to plod ponderously around the show space. Post-show, many iPhone videos that editors shot looked like slo-mos even if they were filmed in real time. Staged in 104, a north Paris art and theater show-space where Martin Margiela staged shows, the set was a mock marble palace that had fallen on hard times. Martens' opening looks had plenty of punch: a series of dresses and gowns made in scrunched up plastic, with no underwear visible. Their accompanying masks were scrunched up plastic too. A splendid conical dress followed in a shade of degraded concrete, with lining and skullcap made of silvery beading. Born as the conceptual brand par excellence, a series on dark suits or the house's signature painted jeans covered in muddy plastic seemed logical. Then Glenn went into overdrive with two humungous yellow gold and blackened silver metallic dresses, leotards and masks were superbly theatrical. However, while the clothes must have been complicated to make they were clearly even more complicated to wear. Many models could barely move their legs. And the cast hesitated to even turn as they marched through the various rooms and corridors of the set. Several strums of a Spanish guitar announced the beginning of this show, whose crescendo was The Smashing Pumpkins' "Disarm". But this show did not disarm or enchant. Martens always had a hard act to follow, seeing as the final couture show of his predecessor was the most acclaimed fashion show of the decade. Martens has always been a very talented designer, and still seems a good fit for Margiela. However, all told, this show looked like a pale shadow of that final epic Galliano display.
