Margiela was engaged in 1997 as the in-house designer for Hermès, one of the greatest luxury houses of France, with an established reputation for quality and finishing. Margiela succeeded in further developing the achievements of his characteristic investigations into tailoring, although he worked entirely in line within the Hermès atmosphere and tradition.
The most noteworthy detail in Margiela's clothing was the nameless, somewhat oversized white label, identifiable on the outside of the garment by four white stitches attaching its corners. All the lines (except first mainline for women) were printed with a numbers from 0 to 23 and the relevant number was circled. Margiela's refusal to supply his designs with a brand name produced the opposite effect, a selected in-crowd recognized his "brand."
Tabi boot - a Japanese-inspired shoe in the form of a hoof reappeared with each new season in slightly modified form. Margiela reworked many existing garments into new creations, but he also repeated the most "successful items"-or favorite pieces from previous collections. This method led to the evolution of different lines, each of which was given a number that referred to differences in content, working method, and technique.