Glenn Martens is busy. Between and , and between Paris and Milan, the designer has little time for anything other than work. Yet somehow in between the madness of dressing and Dove Cameron for the and celebrating a decade at Y/Project, he’s managed to curate the latest issue of , which is observing a milestone of its own.
The Belgian magazine is turning 20 this year, and the issue that , who is a Belgian himself has overseen, is the beginning of a year of celebrations for the cult publication. When editor Blake Abbie approached Martens, the designer said, he made it quite clear that this was a magazine about him and not about the brands he leads—a daunting challenge for a creative so intrinsically intertwined with his own work. Martens Y/Project, and has made Diesel very much his own.
The challenge developed into a self-reflecting exercise that saw the designer retrace his steps all the way back to his hometown of Bruges, where he says his love affair with fashion and history began. The issue is a curious inside look at the fantastical mind of Martens, one of today’s most celebrated designers. From gothic architecture and gay porn stars to AI icons and pre-Raphaelite muses, sees the designer examine all of his fascinations in order to better understand how they’ve gotten him to where he is now.
Read through as Martens talks muses, history, and what he wants to do next. Glenn Martens: I mood board, so I did some stories and then we debated on which ones to keep. I was .
