L
et’s be honest for
a moment – the fashion
world can take itself
incredibly seriously at
times, disgorging a level
of obscure, self-congratulatory
speak about what’s ultimately being delivered.
Sure, it is an artful medium of talent
and aspiration – but, then again, read a press
blurb attached to the walk of a new collection
or sit with a luxury designer for more than
five minutes. You’ll likely end up down
a wordy rabbit hole that could well involve
Alice and spiral into an obtuse dissection
of the influence, and alleged importance,
of the Mughal Empire as it relates to the
straight-edge DC punk scene of the late
’80s – all part and parcel to the fashion
realm’s magnificent appeal.
But enter Alexandre Mattiussi – the man
behind the engaging, simple lines of A MI.INTERVIEWWORDS: RICHARD CLUNE.STYLE
ALEXANDRE
MATTIUSSI:
THE FRENCH
CONNECTION
launched out of the blocks six years ago.
International buyers were quick to engage
and Mr Porter signed an exclusive deal –
the honesty, accessibility and quality of
Mattiussi’s designs an immediate hit.
“A MI is connected to the life I live –
I don’t put fashion in my top priorities
and what I mean by that is that I have fun
with friends, I go on vacation, I have dinner
parties, I buy a nice lamp for my apartment,
and then, if I have some money at the end of
the month, I buy a jumper or a jacket. But
I’m not organising my life around a jacket
or a pair of shoes.”
An attainable price point has also played
a key part in the surging success – so too
a desire to maintain simplicity in favour of
so-called trends.
“Being cool is great, but I want to be the
brand that lasts to the future – this is my life,
I want this, I’m not going to do this for five
years and then go and be the creative director
at Vuitton – non, that’s not my plan, it’s to
build this business and have fun.”
Such fun is now draped across 70
employees and, beyond some strong
concessions (Printemps) and being stocked
by the likes of Barneys, Saks and Opening
Ceremony, runs to six standalone retail stores- three in Paris with further outposts in
Tokyo, Hong Kong and London.
“I want to keep the growth organic – we
have people pushing us to grow though as
I say, I want things to last and do things
gradually. It’s because, as a designer, I want
to grow a little – to keep what we’ve done,
but to play a little more.”
His incentive to further emote was most
recently unveiled against a thick Parisian heat
in June – A MI’s SS18 collection stomping
across pink sand by models sporting more
colour, namely tri-colour tones, than what’s
gone before.
“The collection is complete and still
I try to dress a guy who’s 17, to my father
who’s nearly 80 years old. And I don’t find
inspiration anywhere else but from observing
people and how they’re dressing themselves.
The worst thing when you are a creative, is
to become a bourgeois – and in this business
it’s easy to do that, people get more money
and big contracts with the big houses,
have a big apartment and have a driver and
go on vacation in the Caribbean and blah
blah blah blah. They disconnect from who
they are. In my house – there is no bullshit
and I’m very lucky.”
As are we.
AMI IS STOCKED LOCALLY BY INCU, SNEAKERBOY AND
STANDARD STORE, AMONG OTHERS; AMIPARIS.COM
Infectiously positive and genuinely
friendly, the 36-year-old’s approach is one
built on a simple block – honesty.
After working across various roles at Dior,
Givenchy and Marc Jacobs, the Frenchman
found himself increasingly detached from the
end product, so he decided to launch a label
and create a line that’s about a wardrobe of
clothes he’d wear daily.
“I wanted to step back – to be connected
to myself as a designer and to be someone
who would wear the clothes myself,” he tells
GQ over a coffee and a few cigarettes at
a favourite Marias cafe close to his Parisian
design office. “I used to design beautiful
things at a very expensive price with the
beautiful fabrics and everything, but then,
at the end, I couldn’t afford it myself – it
was frustrating and it left me disconnected.”
A MI – his signature based on initials,
which also translates to ‘friend’ in French –112 GQ.COM.AU SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017