Fans of Maison Margiela‘s famous Tabi shoe can now feed their passion at an exhibit in Chengdu, China which is open from Thursday to Sunday at the Third Avenue Art Museum. This exploration of the brand’s signature is part of the MaisonMargiela/Folders project encompassing flagpole events across four Chinese cities, which kicked off with the fall 2026 show in Shanghai on April 1.
Maison Margiela’s Tabi: Collectors Exhibition.
Courtesy of Maison Margiela
The Tabi: Collectors Exhibition celebrates the global community that has embraced Maison Margiela’s cloven-toe Tabi style as an outlet for self-expression. The exhibition gathers the personal collections of nine Tabi collectors; each showcases their own personal archives, including full-scale photography and rare and distinctive pairs in a recreation of their own wardrobe — a window into how the Tabi is lived with, preserved and personalized. The brand expresses gratitude to Marta de Megni, Menthae, Zhiyu Wang, Zion.T, Theaster Gates, Jerami Grant, Pandora Graessl, Eléonore Guignot and the Mor family for offering their collections.
Tabi collector Theaster Gates
Courtesy of Maison Margiela
The exhibition also features a gathering place for visitors with the Maison Margiela Café, where archival Tabi are displayed, ranging from the original spring-summer 1989 boot to more recent styles like the Artisanal Tabi Claw.
Through reservations and walk-ins, guests can visit the exhibit from 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Maison Margiela’s Tabi: Collectors Exhibition.
Courtesy of Maison Margiela
Each event featured as part of MaisonMargiela/Folders celebrates a distinct code of the house. Additional events include an exhibition in Shanghai dedicated to artisanal couture pieces from 1989-2025, which ran from April 2-6; an exhibition in Beijing exploring anonymity running from April 7-12; and a two-day immersive experience in Shenzhen where locals can transform their own garments with white paint, slated for April 11-12.
Another aspect of the multicity, multiformat endeavor is that the brand is making files related to the events available via Dropbox, and more files will be added as the project progresses.
