Maison Margiela has always remained one of the most enigmatic and consistent fashion houses, consciously avoiding face-ambassadors. The selection of Miley Cyrus as the brand’s first-ever global ambassador is therefore an unprecedented event, which says a lot about the direction taken by the new creative director, Glenn Martens. Maison Margiela and Miley Cyrus have created an exceptional campaign together. The mesmerizing frames are memorable, arousing curiosity and wonder at the same time. Rarely has a clothing ad been so unique.
Maison Margiela and Miley Cyrus. New fall-winter 2025/26 campaign.
The Belgian designer, who took the helm of Margiela in 2025, has signaled his interest in the dialogue between heritage and modernity from the beginning. The latest campaign for the autumn-winter season 2025/26, photographed by Paolo Roversi, embodies this attitude perfectly. On the one hand, it remains true to the aesthetics of the house. So full of understatement, subtlety and playing with absence. On the other, it invites one of the most recognizable icons of pop culture into the conversation.
Together, Maison Margiela and Miley Cyrus have created photos that are definitely art. They are more suitable for the walls of modern galleries than for the spreads of fashion magazines.
Miley Cyrus as a medium, not just a model
In Roversi’s lens, Cyrus appears as a figure at once anonymous and recognizable. Her body, covered in white bianchetto paint, and her distinctive Tabi shoes make her a medium rather than a traditional model. This is not a celebration of celebrity, but an attempt to use her status in an entirely different way. As a surface on which Margiela can explore memory, materiality and the process of transformation.
The play of light, shadow and psychological depth – a collaboration between Maison Margiela and Miley Cyrus
The photographs, held in a painterly, somewhat ephemeral style, combine restraint with psychological depth. Roversi treats light and shadow as matter – the figures seem to emerge from the mist or dissolve in it. The effect is almost study-like paintings: they don’t tell a story directly, but invite close inspection and interpretation.
Maison Margiela and Miley Cyrus vs. consistency with brand DNA
This decision – to just cast Miley Cyrus, an artist known for her constant changeability and reinterpretation of her own image, in the role of the first ambassadors Margiela – is proving remarkably consistent with the brand’s DNA. From the beginning, Margiela has built its identity around anonymity, deconstruction and the study of the traces left by time, matter and the body.
Cyrus, whose career is a string of transformations, becomes the perfect counterpoint here. That’s because she is recognizable, yet ready to negate her own visibility.
Strategic importance of the campaign
Strategically, the campaign opens up new opportunities for Margiela to communicate. That’s because it reaches beyond the closed world of fashion. On the other hand, the brand does not lose its intellectual discipline in the process. It’s a balanced combination. Restrained in imagery, but bold in the choice of faces. It can set the direction for seasons to come.
Ambassadorship in the spirit of Margiela’s philosophy
Maison Margiela, deciding to be an ambassador for the first time, is not giving up its distinctiveness. On the contrary. It shows that its language and philosophy can also resonate through a figure from the broader popular culture, without trivial simplifications and without losing the complexity that has always been a trademark of this fashion house.
