On March 11th, Maison Margiela unveiled the short film Joy, a cinematic campaign created to celebrate the launch of the SS26 collection in stores. Directed by Thibaut Grevet, the film stars composer and pianist Max Richter, performing alongside 43 young musicians from the Association Orchestre à l’École.
Filmed at the atmospheric Théâtre de la Villette in Paris, the three-minute film transforms the campaign into a live musical performance. At its centre, Richter performs an original piece titled Joy on the harpsichord, surrounded by the orchestra whose members also appeared in the Spring/Summer 2026 runway show. Drawing inspiration from the collection’s narrative of a chaotic night at the opera, the film brings together the worlds of music, performance, and fashion.
Maison Margiela SS26: tailoring, icons and a chaotic opera
The Maison Margiela SS26 collection highlights the house’s signature approach to tailoring. In the film, Richter wears sharply cut suits that emphasise the collection’s refined silhouette, while the young musicians appear in deliberately oversized suits painted white using Margiela’s iconic Bianchetto technique.
The campaign also spotlights two key accessories. The Heel-less shoe revisits an archival Margiela concept in which the heel is hidden inside the structure of the shoe, reinterpreted as both a Western boot and an elegant pump. Meanwhile, the newly introduced Box Bag—first seen on the SS26 runway—features soft leather construction with reinforced edges created through a thermoforming process.
To accompany the release of the short film Joy, the brand has launched a curated Spotify playlist compiled by Max Richter and the Young Orchestra. The playlist is themed around “joy”. This selection extends the spirit of the campaign beyond the screen, transforming the collection’s operatic atmosphere into a shared musical experience.
Courtesy of MAISON MARGIELA
