Despite his studio being based in Yorkshire, Matty Bovan has a reputation as one of London’s most creative young designers; a prime example of the ingenuity and DIY spirit that is making the city’s fashion scene so exciting right now.
After graduating from Central Saint Martins with an MA in knitwear, Matty has gone on to win the L’Oreal Professionnel Creative Award and the LVMH Graduate Prize 2015. Now, having appeared on the Fashion East schedule for the past two seasons, the designer/make-up artist/illustrator has won the affections of many of the industry’s leading figures (Katie Grand, Marc Jacobs, and Sarah Mower, to name a few), and has already left his unique stamp on the capital’s fashion scene.
Instantly recognizable, Matty cites the inspiration for his unique style and approach to design as the passion and creativity with which his mother and grandmother approach their wardrobes, and the words of the late, great CSM lecturer Louise Wilson, who told Matty to “take pictures of everything you wear, on yourself, every day,” so as to document a real instinct rather than what he saw in the library.
In this episode of i-D Meets, we travel to York to visit Matty at home and in his studio, and join him on a trip to Selfridges in London with Fashion East founder Lulu Kennedy MBE, to find out more about what is needed to ensure young creative talent can still flourish in a difficult economic climate.
Read: Matty Bovan is brightening up London’s fashion scene, from his studio in Yorkshire.