And first up is a wild patchwork of a Fall-Winter 2022-2023 collection from Central St. Martins graduate Matty Bovan. Past collections have featured a sensibility that is akin to breaking into the supply closet at an art school and grabbing arm loads of whatever one can carry in order to create like a mad scientist. But this collection has an added inspiration: British-born Bovan recently spent time in Connecticut with his American musician boyfriend and came away with some dizzying, over-the-top, reverential, not-so-flattering (and rightly so) impressions of the United States. Bovan said, "I’ve looked at England for so long, I needed to look at something else. America is very easily parodied and there’s a lot of iconic symbols--the star, the stripe--which I like to play with."
But the stars and stripes are the least of what is going on here. Of note is a brown, rust, and gold camouflage-adjacent pattern featuring automatic weapons (the scourge of the United States), inflated football shoulder pads (models came down the runway sporting eye black after all), and plaid flannel, all indicating a certain kind of restrictive, exaggerated expression of masculinity that seems peculiar to the culture of the United States. I like the juxtaposition of this critique against the presentation of knitted and crocheted elements (traditionally "feminine" handicrafts), and garments that look like flounced aprons a 1950s housewife would wear. Bomber and baseball jackets are dissected and Frankenstein-ed together with the words "HOPEFUL" and "BAD DREAMS." Ripped up and shredded Adidas track suits are repurposed into skirts and ball gowns, and the wonderful blanket/wraps plastered with graphics and script worn as sarongs or sheath dresses cap it all off. The aesthetic is quite punk but actually quite lyrical and beautiful.
https://www.mattybovan.com/
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