The designer of the moment talks self expression, working on three shows in one month, and why his dream collaborator is Mariah Carey.
The designer has shown unprecedented skill, tenacity, and directionality at Y/Project, Diesel, and Jean Paul Gaultier Couture—and he’s just getting started.From left: looks from Diesel, Jean Paul Gaultier Couture, and Y/Project, all designed by Glenn Martens. Photos by Getty.
It’s rare for a designer to create work that is truly directional for two brands at the same time—even more rare, if not unheard of, to do so for three. And there’s no denying Martens has built up an identifiable aesthetic. Originally from Bruges, Belgium, the designer studied interior architecture before getting a fashion degree at the prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.
Most hardcore Martens fans know him from his work at Y/Project, which has always been about a purposeful sort of kookiness that becomes unforgettable. Think: convertible denim jackets and jeans with extra slouchy fabric that snakes up the calves, pleated gowns that look like corrugated cardboard, or those infamously contentious thigh-high Uggs.
Although the Y/Project look is certainly discernible, you can see flashes of Martens’s inventive designs at Diesel, too–though in a completely different context. “I think each one of them has a very different message to the world and to the markets,” Martens, who became the artistic director of the famed denim brand in 2020, says of working on two labels at the same time.