i-D online has the exclusive on Alex Mattsson’s autumn/winter 12 lookbook, shot by Hayley Louisa Brown and Matthew Josephs in and around The Barbican.
Click images to enlarge.
We asked Alex and Matthew to talk us through the collection, entitled ‘Analog Visions’, with its cartoon crowns (we want one!), its orange-and-black leather jacket cut like Mobile Suit Gundam, and its extra-long bowling shirt in a flame-coloured print of cogs that looks like nothing so much as the secret Parisian clock-world of Martin Scorsese’s Hugo…
So Alex, what’s the collection inspired by this season? It’s inspired by the concept of steampunk. I don’t mean it in the usual sense, of Victorian-era steam-powered technology, but in the sense of an alternative retro-future where technology has taken a different path than our present reality. By simply removing or replacing some of the technological milestones that have shaped our present, you’ll have a paradigm shift that completely changes the present and future. Soviet steampunk is an esoteric sub-genre I found particularly inspiring. The idea of souped-up Lada hot-rods, mechanical USSR cyborgs and retro-futuristic Soviet IZh motorcycles evoked a great deal of the aesthetics in the collection.
Why did you want Matthew Josephs to style the lookbook? Matthew’s focus and understanding of menswear is really refreshing. My influences are really important to me so working with creatives that understand and share those influences is a privilege. We always end up geeking out over comics and films. Matthew, to me, represents a new breed of creatives. He’s next generation.
Hi Matthew, how did you first meet Alex? Through my friend Chris Murdoch, at Boombox (cringe!), Alex was at RCA and I was at CSM at the time.
Who shot the lookbook, and why did you choose them? I chose Hayley Louisa Brown, she’s really new but she takes beautiful, simple pictures. She’s someone that can take lookbook style pictures with more of an editorial edge to them. She’s quick, reliable and gorge too!
What does his collection make you think of? An alternate future, this collection looks quite sci-fi/steampunk with the colours and cuts, the exaggerated shoulders, the way the collar rolls around the neck to me looks really new. All the little details like the shape of the collar tips, the vents in the jackets and the edging make it look quite sci-fi, quite graphic. Some of the colours, like the orange against the denim, have a steampunk look to them.
alexmattsson.com
matthewjosephs.blogspot.co.uk
Text: Dean Kissick
Photography: Hayley Louisa Brown
Styling: Matthew Josephs
Model: Javi @ Studio BOYO
