Maison Martin Margiela Multiplies

Is there another designer who is more antithetical to the modern fashion celebrity/marketing paradigm than Martin Margiela?
He has never advertised and rarely is photographed. Rather than stealthily copying vintage clothes and putting his label in them, he produces a special collection of replica garments identifying the specific origin of the source item. He never gives interviews and makes no personal appearances at all, a refreshing contrast to Tom Ford some overexposed designers we could name. And yet, his business has been growing rapidly in recent years.
I keeping with his traditional M.O., Maison Martin Margiela, as he likes his brand to be known, has quietly doubled its retail presence in the past few weeks here in New York by taking over the store next door to its original shop on Greenwich Street. The added space now houses the designer's women's lines while menswear has taken over the original shop, and the extra room in both stores allows Margiela to create environments that are ever more surreal. We don't mean "surreal" in the popular, dreamlike usage ("Meeting Madonna was so surreal") but in the weird, academic, André Breton/Max Ernst sort of way ("Why are the walls lined with egg cartons?") This only creates a greater contrast with the sleek yet eminently wearable clothes the stores sell. As usual, we are left with the question of whether the ladder and paint cans in the corner are left from the renovation or actually part of the décor.
In related news, the house has signed with L'Oreal  to  create a Margiela fragrance bowing in 2009. It will be interesting to see how the brand fares in product category that hinges on the sort of marketing and advertising it so fastidiously avoids.
Maison Martin Margiela 803 Greenwich Street between Jane and West 12th Streets, West Village