Being named a new designer, is the easy part these days. Norwegian prodigy designer, Alex Mattsson, has proved that he is so much more; a restless creative with an eye for detail who keeps setting the bar of interest higher and higher. Just hours after his London Collections SS14 show, Chasseur caught up with the man himself and discussed his new vision, the creative process behind it as well as about his unexpected collaboration with the explosive Brooke Candy!
Your LCM presentation took place yesterday and it was a rather spectacular event. What made it all happen and how excited were you to work with Brooke Candy?
Collaborating with Brooke Candy was hugely exciting! This is the second season I am doing the RedBull Catwalk Studio project which combines fashion and music so it’s ultimately down to RedBull for making this collaboration possible.
Brooke Candy is quite well-known in both the music and fashion industries for her ability to transform and adapt to many genres without losing her signature punk attitude. What, in your opinion, has her powerful ‘female presence’ added to your SS14 mens collection?
Brooke exudes attitude and girl-power; this ‘punk attitude’ is what works so well with my clothes. The dynamic of collaborating with a girl as a menswear designer is very interesting to me and it works very well. In the video Brooke is the boss and the model-boys are her crew of hunks. The video shoot got quite raunchy to say the least.
For the presentation, you have worked alongside Brooke on a fashion film and a song. How was the experience of creating music for this collection?
Watching Brooke work is really exciting. I think both the song and the collection share the same attitude. When I collaborate with someone it is because I like what they do. I still want them to do their thing just like I want to do my thing. I think collaborations are more about curating the right people to work with rather than trying to adapt your work to fit someone else’s. I feel like Brooke and I make great creative match.
Let’s move on to the fashion film! What’s the story behind it?
It’s actually a music video featuring my clothes. The team behind this video is epic. We are all really excited to be able to work together on this video. The video was largely filmed in a strip club in Hackney in true Brooke Candy style! Not much of a narrative I think, but lots of nice visuals, hot boys, cool clothes and off course Brooke being just being her bad-ass self! What more do you want?
The presentation took place inside the Film Museum of London, a relatively new museum with a futuristic enough interior that serves the history of the 7th Art. What was the idea behind this choice of location?
It’s a really amazing space and a great location. That was all I needed!
Your designing style is well-known for its progressive vision combined with impeccable tailoring. Should we assume that your SS14 collection, “Pineal Dawn” could be translated into a ‘dawn’ for new directions?
The name ‘Pineal Dawn’ comes from the idea of spirituality in the future. The pineal gland (a.k.a The Mystery Gland or Third Eye) is thought to be the part of the human brain that stands for feelings of spirituality and/or religion among other more mundane things such as sleep patterns. SS14 ‘Pineal Dawn’ was inspired by the idea of a militant rastafari movement a hundred years in to the future. Cyber-Rasta if you like. I imagined them to use brain implants to augment and modify their pineal gland and in turn their spiritual consciousness. I like to let my imagination run wild when researching.
Illustrations : Josh Bristow | © CHASSEUR MAGAZINE