His secret? Designing clothes that people are genuinely desperate to wear: a twisted bomber jacket teamed with a pair of rhinestone-studded denim jeans that have zip-off legs found at Y/​Project a D‑embossed, leather micro-mini skirt and knee-high stiletto boots courtesy of Diesel a dramatic emerald green, ruched gown à la Gaultier couture.

His trademark? Unconventional garment construction laced with intrigue, sex appeal and sensuality – sometimes it’s subtle, other times a little more in-your-face. He’s been at the helm of experimental Parisian brand Y/​Project since 2013, was named as the creative director of denim powerhouse Diesel in 2020 (see the latest collection modelled by multi-faceted, multi-hyphenate woman of the moment Julia Fox here) and showed his debut couture collection as Jean Paul Gaultier ​ ’s second-ever guest designer at the start of the year to rave reviews.

Glenn Martens is the Belgian designer behind a trifecta of fashion’s most talked-about labels. Taken from the new print issue of THE FACE.