Martina Tiefenthaler

Martina Tiefenthaler is an Austrian fashion designer, creative director and consultant with training in architecture, communication design and fashion. She entered Maison Martin Margiela in 2011, moving from internship and assistant work into womenswear design across collection concepts, mock-ups, ready-to-wear categories, campaigns, lookbooks and show design.

From 2013 to 2016, Tiefenthaler worked on womenswear at Louis Vuitton. She also contributed to the early formation of Vetements before becoming one of Demna’s closest collaborators and serving as Balenciaga’s chief creative officer from 2017 to 2023, with responsibility spanning design, accessories, couture and the house’s wider image system.

Since 2024, she has worked independently through MRTServices as a creative consultant and coach, advising on design, collection development, strategy, image and creative careers.

Tiefenthaler approaches fashion through a multidisciplinary, 360-degree model in which garments, accessories, campaigns, retail environments, digital communication and show production form one connected system. Her work links detailed product decisions to the larger visual and commercial behaviour of a brand.

Her studio practice is grounded in fittings, materials and physical construction, while her leadership work addresses team structures, production constraints and the translation of ambitious concepts into executable collections. She has also spoken publicly about waste, sustainability and the tension between creative scale and responsible output.

The recurring principle is coherence across departments: design and image are developed together rather than passed between isolated teams. This allows a collection’s construction, casting, set design, campaign and retail presentation to reinforce the same creative argument.