Miley Cyrus Puts a Face to the Faceless:
Margiela’s First Celebrity Muse
Maison Margiela has always been fashion’s best-kept secret, anonymous design teams, masked models, and press releases once sent by fax machine. But now, in a move that feels both unexpected and strangely inevitable, the famously faceless French fashion house has finally chosen a face. And not just any face : Miley Cyrus.
Yes, the genre-blending, rule-bending pop icon is officially Margiela’s first-ever celebrity ambassador, marking a bold turning point in the house’s 37-year history. Long before fashion bowed to the cult of celebrity, Margiela built its legacy on quiet rebellion. Its founding designer, Martin Margiela, wasn’t anonymous per se - fashion insiders knew who he was but he famously avoided the spotlight, refused interviews, and never took a bow. His belief? The clothes should be the only star.
Fast-forward to today, and that star now shares the stage with another: enter Glenn Martens. Since taking over creative direction in 2021, the Belgian designer, best known for his work at Y/Project and Diesel has been reinterpreting Margiela’s codes with reverence and risk. Martens’ tenure has introduced a new level of conceptual clarity and emotional depth, leaning into the house’s surrealism while making it relevant for a generation fluent in fashion and meme culture alike.
The Autumn/Winter 2025 campaign, shot by legendary photographer Paolo Roversi, captures this duality perfectly. Miley Cyrus appears in moody black-and-white portraits, her body painted white in the maison’s signature bianchetto technique a reference to past collections where garments and bodies blurred into one. Her face is often hidden in shadow or partially obscured, a poetic nod to the brand’s core obsession with anonymity.
“I wore nothing but body paint and the iconic Tabi boots,” said Cyrus. “In that moment, Margiela and I became one.” It’s a bold, theatrical statement, and it fits. Much like Martens’ own debut for the brand, the campaign balances homage with evolution, bringing Margiela’s mystique into the spotlight without dissolving it.
Cyrus, a global pop star and former TV icon, has been increasingly involved in high fashion in recent years, having worn and worked with houses like Alaïa, Schiaparelli, Tom Ford, Saint Laurent and, of course, Margiela. Equally at home in rhinestones or raw-edge tailoring, she’s become a familiar figure on the front rows and red carpets of the fashion world.
And while Margiela is no stranger to transformation, this campaign proves that change doesn’t mean compromise. Under Martens’ vision, and with Cyrus as its haunting new muse, the maison continues to speak in riddles, only now, with a voice that sings.
