If the creativity award could go to anyone, it would be designer Mata Durikovic for 'Pink Matrix', the collection she designed for her brand MadbyMad. Mata's new collection wowed the runway at Fashion Scout's Protein Studios with an explosion of colour, fantasy and innovation. Her unique approach to design together with a strong personal aesthetic made it a standout show at London Fashion Week.
Photo Jarka Crepova
Mata's inspiration for 'Pink Matrix' came from her childhood in company of her grandmother. Her grandmother would repurpose old garments and create magical costumes for Mata to wear, sparking the creation of different characters that would teleport between galaxies. Such a universe 'The Pink Matrix' is what Mata is bringing to life in this collection. There are three galaxies in her Pink Matrix Universe - The Strawberry galaxy which is symbolic of the candy and strawberries her grandmother kept in her kitchen, The Flower Crystal Galaxy as her grandmothers house was always full of flowers and The Crystal Galaxy which represents her crystal brooch collection.
Photos Arpad Kossar
Drawing ideas from her grandmother and the way she would save starch water from her cooking to nourish her plants, Mata created her own bio plastic from organic materials like starch, jelly and fruit; a material which makes up a large part of her collection. She has coined this textile 'Bio-crystal leather', and the material is edible, entirely biodegradable and if returned to nature becomes plant food. Mata describes the function of her novel material quite simply - “Cook it! Wear it! Eat it! Vitalise plants with it!”. Alongside the edible bio-leather, Mata made the collection using materials and practices which only her grandmother had access to such as wool - knitted and crocheted, recycled crystals donated by Swaroski, brooches, safety pins and embroidery. Mata developed a 3D embroidery technique to apply flowers and other embellishments onto the surface of her bio-leather.
Photos Arpad Kossar
During the runway show, once the models had walked the catwalk and all the collection had flashed past, the models gathered around a table in the middle of the catwalk. A model wearing a blue dress laid down on the table as if a procedure was about to take place and one of the models took scissors to the garment and began to delicately snip off pieces from it. Why this dissection? For the drama and to feed it to the front row and prove its sustainability credentials. Bravo Mata.
Photo Anna Savenko
Since the young designer's graduation from Central Saint Martin's in 2022 where she focused on womenswear and textile design, Mata now works as a textile designer in the research team at the Chanel Maison in Paris. Having won multiple awards such as 'Best Fashion Graduate' in 2022 by the Slovak Fashion Council, Mata is a leading the way for sustainable design in the fashion industry. Mata proves that fashion can be wearable, creative, fun, fashionable and still truly sustainable. Fancy a taste?
For more information about the Designer Mata Durikovic and her brand MadbyMad, follow @madbymad_ or visit madbymad.store. The jewellery in the show is designed by jewellery designer Martina Kocianova, Central St Martins 2022 Graduate.
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