Last night at the BFC showspace, a cacophony of crochet, crockery and Coach sent the fashion press into delight. For S/S 19, Matty Bovan showed off both his international appeal and his burgeoning talent, enclosed in the dual narrative that umbrellas his world.
Bovan's swift trajectory is known to most in the industry. Befriended and mentored by Katie Grand, LOVE magazine's awe-inspiring Editor, Bovan's work with Marc Jacobs, his subsequent use of the biggest models in the business and the multiple strings on his bow have quickly put the Yorkshireman on the map.
It would be all too easy to point to the web of names and powerhouses that surround Matty Bovan and credit them for his success, but the work on show this season proves he's more than this. Each garment held a universe of ideas, a meeting of nature and nurture.
Created in his house in York - of which he inherited from his grandmother - wide tulle and hessian dresses, illustrated boilersuits and floppy crocheted flowers felt not only Bovan's own hand, but the dirt outside his door, as they dried and formed in the days of our summer heatwave.
Collaborating once more with the master of millinery, Stephen Jones, Bovan's models wore headpieces that took seemingly banal items to new heights. Jones used pink marigold gloves, kitsch plastic sushi and a feather duster to adorn a Beefeater's hat, emphasising the converse roles of reality and surreality in this collection.
His partnering with Coach, the American luxury leather house, propels the young designer further into the glare the fashion industry shines on its favourites. The bags Bovan has commercially created hold strings of pearls, but those on the catwalk play with size and proportion. Some are elephantine, others only large enough to hold a clean toothpick.
Strung across lovingly hand-crafted garments, these bags highlight the key tension Bovan reveals in his work; a juxtaposition between DIY, mend-and-make-do punk and high luxury.
