The Obscure History of Maison Margiela's "Kiss" Shirt

The Obscure History of Maison Margiela's "Kiss" Shirt

By: Hailey Layne

The fashion house of Maison Margiela is synonymous with mystery. The origin story of the iconic white button-down covered in lipstick prints is hazy at best. With few credible sources, most images found online are replications from sellers. These online boutiques are charging upwards of $12,000 dollars per shirt, but the authenticity of the products is unknown. The quantity of shirts produced by Margiela in the early 2000s is unclear with various online sources ranging from seven to forty-five. The original lipstick kisses were allegedly placed by one of Maison Margiela’s seamstresses. All of the rumors add to the drama of the simplistic garment. Certain photographs 0f the shirt can be traced to magazine sources; Peter Doherty was photographed in 2005 for Arena Homme+ wearing the lipstick-stained button-up. Flat-lay pictures of the shirt show the Maison Margiela label with the corresponding menswear line circled (0 and 10); this suggests that the button-up was remodeled by hand for men. 

The impact of the shirt was multifaceted. It supported the branding of Maison Margiela’s sense of mystery that is cultivated in everything they do (the various numerical clothing labels corresponding to different lines of products for example). Replications of the kiss shirt’s allure followed the original production. The impact rippled outward. Jalouse Magazine interviewed actor Matthew Gray Gubler for a segment titled “Not My Gubler” where women on set were given different shades of lipstick and told to create lipstick prints on the actor’s shirt and face. The final look produced an inverted version of the Margiela shirt. 

Maison Margiela created a storyline for a garment that was ordinary. The brand managed to capture the interest of watchers and spark re-creations years later. Telling of the brand’s ingenuity is the silent refusal to acknowledge this object of fashion that has captivated eras of social media and pop culture. Although the world will never know who left the first lipstick prints on the original button-down, admirers of the artwork are taught a lesson about fashion and people through the story. 

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