EXCLUSIVE: Matières Fécales Is Joining Dover Street Market Paris’ Brand Development Roster
When most people encounter Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran, the content creators, performance artists and DJs known as Matières Fécales, they see alien-like creatures: a bald couple partial to darkened eyeballs, zombie makeup and, occasionally, body dysphoria.
Adrian Joffe, president of Comme des Garçons International and chief executive officer of Dover Street Market, also noticed the “thrilling” cut of Dalton’s leather jacket, which she and Bhaskaran designed, having both trained as patternmakers at Collège LaSalle in their native Montreal.
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The duo have dabbled in fashion for the past decade, selling caps, jewelry, T-shirts and more complex garments directly to consumers via social media, their website and the fashion resale app Depop.
But come March 7, they will show a new Matières Fécales collection on the official calendar of Paris Fashion Week — and as part of the brand development division of Dover Street Market Paris that’s behind the likes of Vaquera, Rassvet, Róisín Pierce, Olly Shinder and ERL.
Expect a more “mature” approach to fashion hinged on tailoring, terrific white shirts, knitwear, denim and more thrilling leather jackets — plus a complete range of accessories.
“I really like their look. I love people who go for it,” Joffe said in an interview. “I found them beautiful, and I was thrilled to find out, the more I got to know them, how beautiful they are inside as well.
“They have a total vision of who they are — a fearless, courageous vision,” he said.
The partnership with DSMP includes production, sales and distribution, which Dalton and Bhaskaran are relishing, given their penchant for fine, natural fabrics and European production capabilities.
Last week, the first prototypes were trickling into the DSMP showroom, where the duo reflected on their unconventional path to Paris Fashion Week.
Their brand name, which translates to fecal matter, “comes from how we feel about the industry,” Dalton said matter-of-factly, explaining that underneath fashion’s glossy facade lies hard truths about its environmental impact, the treatment of garment workers, a lack of diversity and more.
“Matières Fécales is our version of what the industry should be — something inclusive, something that has sustainable products, something that is open to new ideas,” she said.
Once they began selling their designs, the design duo found takers in places like London, Tokyo and Los Angeles, but also across Brazil and Russia. “A lot of times, the interest comes from places where people feel they can’t be themselves,” Dalton said.
Bhaskaran described the collection they’re developing with DSMP brand management as “our version of elegance.”
“With our radical identity, I think it’s about finding longevity for us and exploring what that would look like,” he said. “It was really important for us to create something that feels durable, that feels sustainable.”
Joffe said he has no specific commercial targets for Matières Fécales’ new collection, but he’s optimistic.
“Amid all this uncertainty in the world, people are more open to new and creative fashion, things you can’t find anywhere,” he said in an interview.
Also, having conscripted Matières Fécales for performances at 35-37, the cultural center that was the precursor to the Paris branch of Dover Street Market that opened last May, Joffe witnessed how the couple have built up a strong, up-for-it community since they moved to Paris three years ago.
Indeed, they boast 716,000 followers on Instagram, and in recent years have found their way onto the radar of several high-profile designers — and a certain pop legend.
Rick Owens conscripted them as models for a Converse campaign in 2021, and Jean Paul Gaultier had them design as many as 50 costumes for a cabaret-style revue at Berlin’s Friedrichstadt-Palast in 2023, for which Gaultier was curator and visual design director.
And then at the end of 2023, Madonna, a fan of Matières Fécales’ cut-up jeans, asked them to design costumes for some of her backup dancers, and also appear onstage with her at some Paris dates of her “Celebration” tour.
Another of the couple’s other recent claims to fame was being denied entry to The Forbidden City in Beijing when they attempted to visit last October with Owens and his wife Michèle Lamy in tow.
Dalton said she wasn’t surprised they were bounced, and they took it in stride.
“Even in Paris, we’re denied entry at restaurants,” she said. “It’s just something that happens to people who dress up like us, who do this on an everyday basis, and who express themselves authentically, no matter what.…Obviously, we always come with kindness and never negativity.”
And so what did they do instead of The Forbidden City?
“We just walked around, and went sightseeing,” Bhaskaran said. “Beijing is a beautiful city, and there was so much to see.”
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