ADVOCATING for a sustainable approach towards the fashion industry, York-based designer, Matty Bovan and his namesake brand employ a tight network of British manufacturers and local craftspeople.
Think hand-dyed yarns in small batches, in-house knitting and crocheting, archive fabric off-cuts, and end-of-line materials for a thoughtful and conscious way of producing clothing. And it’s a way that has seen him build up a loyal following including all the stylish gals: Adwoa Aboah, Amelia Gray, Björk, Kristen McMenamy, Shirley Manson, Tilda Swinton, Zendaya, and tons more.
Matty Bovan 2024 Holiday Collection
Matty Bovan 2024 Holiday Collection
An ethos that he’s had from the very beginning, Matty graduated from Central Saint Martins 10 years, next year, specialising in Fashion Knitwear (he won the LVMH Graduate Prize 2015), and since then, he’s gone on to work for work with Marc Jacobs and Miu Miu, published books, held an immersive solo exhibition, ‘RIBBONS by Matty Bovan’ in 2023, and created an installation Dover Street Market Paris.
And now, right in time for Christmas, Matty’s unearthed his tinsel and lurex offcuts to offer the most shiny and joyful of Christmas collections. A holiday drop that’s full of merriment, the line offers mixed media amorphous assemblages, hand-crocheted Lurex and raffia ornaments, dead stock yarn and tinsel top-handled bags, laddered sweaters, screen-printed unisex dresses, and embellished ribbon bow baseball caps. Proudly, all made in Yorkshire.
Matty Bovan 2024 Holiday Collection
The Christmas tree gets involved too, as there’s trippy ornaments in transparent neons of varying sizes, embellished with hand-crocheting, using vintage and dead stock yarns as well as repurposed swatches from his studio.
No festive time is complete without a game, and there’s Buckaroo-inspired amorphous assemblages with tinsel, mixed ornaments, crocheted baubles, vintage mesh trucker caps, tinsel yarn bags, and satin and grosgrain bows that come together to form decorative wall sculptures.
Matty Bovan 2024 Holiday Collection
Matty Bovan 2024 Holiday Collection
When it comes to the clothing, there’s a wintery take on the unisex ‘square dress’ that uses a zero-waste pattern cut technique, hand-made in Yorkshire, featuring hand-illustrated vinyl graphics, as well as screen printed unisex sweatshirt dresses.
Stay cosy with the the Lurex hand-knitted lambswool scarves and sweaters, made from repurposed yarns, and top it off with hand-crocheted tinsel handbags, ’tis the season.
by Felicity Carter
The collection is now available on mattybovan.com