After months of speculation that fashion’s most enigmatic figure was slowly slinking out the backdoor of his fashion house, WWD European Editor Miles Socha confirms today that Martin Margiela has left the building. No clear successor has been named at his namesake label, Socha writes, “leaving a team to carry on the legacy of a designer so avant-garde he never showed his face to his fashion-obsessed public.”

“We want to stay avant-garde, and provocative, but without a new creative director,” Giovanni Pungetti, chief executive officer of Maison Martin Margiela, told the fashion daily. “It’s a challenge. We know this. We will probably make mistakes, but the most important thing is to learn from them.”

The man obsessed with jikatabi boots, deconstruction and pointed shoulders will be missed—his press-shy behavior notwithstanding  (the widely circulated, undated photo above is one of the few I’ve ever seen of him; or maybe it’s the only one, on second thought). Below, a few looks from Margiela’s memorable spring 2009 show, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the label. — Krista Jennings