Summer of Love
We've been in a tie-dye mood all summer, so we were amped to discover a new contemporary collection, B Matus, that specializes in hand-tie-dying silk (tie-dyed cotton tees, we've got.)
Becca Matus, the designer behind B Matus, just debuted her first collection for Spring, specializing in soft, wearable colors and modern silhouettes. She's also branched out to housewares (pillows, towels, napkins, etc.), using the same fabrics and tie-dyes found in her apparel line.
We caught up with Matus to find out more:
Style Section L.A.: What is it about tie-dye?
Matus: I love being able to play with depth and colors. Nothing excites me more than putting together what seems like an odd combination of colors and designs and seeing what it becomes. It always turns out visually interesting, and only rarely fugly.
What was the inspiration behind the line?
Music and rocks. I'm kind of a crystal geek and the colors in nature are always more inspiring to me than anything. For the spring collection specifically I was listening to non-stop glam rock. Particularly the Ziggy Stardust album. So my designs took a more celestial turn.
How are pieces dyed -- in great big batches?
I dye each garment individually, but I have these crazy formulas for everything so they all look similar. There is never a way to make it look identical, but if you forget one detail you can have a totally different-looking piece. It's pretty panic-attack inducing, but I love the thrill of it when it turns out right. I'm a tie dye junkie. Everything is hand-dyed by me in Marfa, Texas. The line has been bouncing back and forth between manufacturers, but I am now working on bringing it all in house so it will be made in Marfa, Texas.
Such a summery collection -- what can we expect for fall?
I kinda surprised myself with the Spring/ Summer collection. I went through a super-goth phase that never really left me so I have always considered myself a "Fall" designer. I was pretty obsessed with "Witches of Eastwick," and my then-upcoming move to Marfa while designing the fall line. You can expect a lot of witchiness, cozy sweaters and an element of "far out"-ness.