Inside the Maison Margiela Folders Exhibition bringing 9 Tabi collectors Together in Chengdu Until April 13

Maison Margiela’s “TABI: COLLECTORS EXHIBITION” opened April 9 at The Third Avenue Art Museum in Chengdu as part of MaisonMargiela/folders, the house’s first large scale China exhibition series, which runs across four cities throughout April 2026. The Chengdu stop runs through April 13, open daily from 10 am to 8 pm for walk ins without a reservation, and is free to the public.

The Folders Project

MaisonMargiela/folders launched in Shanghai on April 2 as part of Shanghai Fashion Week, anchored by the Fall/Winter 2026 show and a dedicated Artisanal: Creative Laboratory exhibition. Each city hosts a different exhibition built around one of four house codes: Artisanal in Shanghai, Anonymity in Beijing, Tabi in Chengdu, and Bianchetto in Shenzhen. The project also makes the brand’s internal archive publicly accessible online for the first time through a digital component.

Nine Collectors, One Silhouette

The Chengdu exhibition brings together the personal Tabi collections of nine individuals from around the world, Eléonore Guignot, NBA player Jerami Grant, Marta de Megni, Menthae, The Mor Family, Pandora, artist Theaster Gates, Zhiyu (Yuki) Wang, and musician Zion.T. Each collection is presented as a full scale reconstruction of the collector’s wardrobe, offering a view into how the split toe silhouette functions beyond the runway, as a personal object, a cultural marker, and a long term collector’s item. The Tabi boot, first introduced by Martin Margiela in 1988, remains one of the most recognizable and persistently relevant silhouettes in contemporary fashion.

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Chengdu as a Platform

The choice of Chengdu for the Tabi exhibition points to the city’s growing weight as a cultural and luxury retail hub in mainland China. Maison Margiela’s decision to dedicate its most community driven exhibition stop to Chengdu, rather than Shanghai or Beijing, signals confidence in the city’s collector base and its appetite for immersive brand experiences.