Matthieu Blazy
A fashion finalist in 2006, Matthieu had an incredible career following ITS, working as Senior & Head designer for brands like Raf Simons, Maison Margiela (as head designer, a move revealed by Suzy Menkes which made huge sensation in the industry in 2014), Céline, Calvin Klein and now Bottega Veneta. Often working side by side with Raf Simons, a long term friendship that lasts to this day which was established at ITS: during the final evening of ITS, he sat down for a chat with a person he did not know. They started talking about favorite designers and Matthieu told him he would have loved to work for Raf Simons. The answer was totally unexpected: "I am Raf Simons, and I love your work. Come work for me". Raf sat in the ITS Jury that year and at the time few people knew his face, since he wanted to keep his face out of the limelight: young designers were crazy about him but none of them would have recognized him.
Matthieu’s collection included this outfit in satin and cotton with a pair of black suede sandals and fur hat. He had just graduated from La Cambre Ecole National Supérieure des Arts Visuels and the project that got him selected was inspired by the graphic transcription of scientific phenomena or extraordinary natural curiosities (diagrams of geological cross-sections, studies of crystallized rocks...), also looking at the way these materials were used in rococo design (furniture, architecture, etc.). He was aiming at synthesizing natural shapes by reorganizing them on a body, creating very graphic outfits, often by using black and white stripes to symbolize scientific sketches and underline the division of the chemical elements.
Matthieu Blazy ITS 2006 fashion collection
Matthieu Blazy ITS 2006 fashion collection
Matthieu Blazy & Raf Simons