Matin Mac Mathew, the creator of the brand Ethics, has an almost child-like innocence and free spirit that immediately attracts people to his personality.
However, his designs depict a matured sensibility crafted by his experiences. Matin, who recently showcased his designs at the International Fashion Fest organised by Pegasus, is a fast rising star in the fashion designing world in Kerala.
“I established 'Ethics' in Kochi in 2011, immediately after I quit my job with Christian Dior. I joined Dior in Paris as part of my internship during my Masters in fashion design from Istituto Marangoni in London and later acquired a job there. I was specialising in men's wear back then, so I was responsible for creating the check design shirts while working there. I had to create 100 designs a day, but the job was made easy by the designing software provided," says Matin.
Comparing our fashion scene to the one in Paris he says, “In Paris, an entire year is devoted to a particular colour. So you can predict which colour would be back in fashion in the coming year and you design based on that. Besides, if you come up with a creative work there, you are acclaimed and people respect you. Here, unless a celebrity wears it, it is not worth following. Creativity is not given credit and people look at it like just another piece of clothing. However, things are changing. There used to be a time when a particular colour combination popular in London took five years to reach the Indian fashion scene. But now that gap has reduced to a couple of years," he says.
After quitting Dior, Matin joined his family in Kochi and now caters to a long line of celebs including Manoj K. Jayan, Asif Ali and Jayasurya and specialises in wedding couture.
“I have a select clientele. If someone walks into my store, I do everything possible to ensure that they are content with what they buy resulting in us becoming family friends. The pieces that I hold in the shop only serve as a catalogue for clients. Once they pick the pieces, I understand their taste and create new products that suit them. I design new products and e-mail it to them every two months for them to select. I never show the same design to two people," he says.
Matin says his designs are elaborate works with simple designs inspired by nature. “I choose my colours from nature and a single design is repeated throughout a piece in different colours and shades. For example, for Siddique's daughter's wedding, a lehenga was created with nearly 1000 embroidered flowers in different shades of pink and cream. Each flower took almost an hour to embroider. Most designers just pick a readymade material and work on it. All my designs are worked on fresh fabric which enables more creativity. I want everything on the piece to be mine," he adds.
Matin says that in fashion, change is the only constant and a good dress must not hang on the body follow its lines. “I believe a good dress should be pretty but more importantly, draw attention to the wearer and make her look good. When the woman smiles the dress must smile with her," says Matin.
