MATTIJS’ LOVE FOR PLEATS & PLAYFUL FASHION PART 1
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Maybe his name won’t ring a bell immediately, but insiders of the fashion industry have already discovered this big talent: fashion designer Mattijs van Bergen. Ever since he finished his Masters at the renowned Central Saint Martins, the career of the 29-year-old Dutch designer has been moving rapidly upwards. He even got noticed by Browns, one of the most prestigious shops of London, where his designs are sold next to those of Mario Schwab, Gareth Pugh and Henry Holland. Time to show you an insider’s look into the world of MATTIJS, the prêt-a-porter label by Mattijs van Bergen.
WHAT’S THE STORY BEHIND YOUR LATEST COLLECTION ‘BLANCO’ (F/W ’10)?
I started the collection from the idea that, in these times of economic recession, it’s not easy being a young designer. That’s why I started thinking why I want to do what I do. I came to the essence of my love for design: tailoring. I used calico -a cotton for almost the entire collection that is normally used by tailors to make a toile -, which is again the essence of making couture pieces. I started to rework the Blanco cotton fabric to give it a totally different feeling. For example, I made pleats of the cotton which made the fabric look like alligator skin. I also created patterns by sketching onto the off-white fabric with a blue ballpoint. The hearts and the heart-shaped details reflect my love for design.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE ‘MATTIJS’ STYLE?
I design for an elegant woman that is both sophisticated and edgy. My work is usually very intricate, very detailed, and it has a very feminine yet strong side to it. My designs are a powerful way of dressing. 
YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE A LOVE FOR PLEATS, WHERE DOES THIS COME FROM? DO OTHER DESIGNERS LIKE ISSEY MIYAKE INSPIRE YOU?
When I start designing, it starts by working with the fabric; the movement of the fabric or the rigger of the pleats. I like the tactility of fabric. At some point I started with pleats and fell in love with it. The funny thing is that I never was that much into it when pleats were ‘hot’, but looking back at what it was, I definitely refer to it, but I use them in a new way. Miyake’s pleats are much more stylized, much more like the work of Japanese designers. My pleats have a more layered feeling, I think.
WHO ARE YOUR FEMALE ICONS?
They vary from collection to collection. It’s definitely a mixture of lots of types of women, for example Grace Jones meeting an Audrey Hepburn-kind of woman. The mix between the two: very elegant, soft beauty and a very powerful, masculine, colourful, eighties-kind of woman. In general, all sorts of women inspire me. I think my collections show this as well. My designs can be for older as well as for younger women. For the ‘Blanco’ collection my inspiration was more a distilled thing rather than a type of woman. It was much more about the garment than about the person wearing it.
HOW DO YOU USUALLY START OFF WITH A COLLECTION?
For me, a new collection usually starts a few weeks before I finish the previous one. I get new ideas for the next one, which is a good thing since you don’t have a gap in between. It usually starts with a feeling that I try to translate after a lot of research. I usually spend days and days in the library, going through magazines. But very often I also look at things that don’t have anything to do with fashion like architecture, film etc. After collecting a lot of information, I start drawing and working on the stand. That’s kind of a reactionary thing; I start drawings and then I work on the stand and see what happens; this becomes a pattern and then back and forth, back and forth until you have a complete collection.
YOU DID YOUR MA IN LONDON, BUT WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO COME BACK AND STAY IN AMSTERDAM?
It was a bit of a financial choice because at some point in London I just ran out of money. I got so much interest back here again as well, there’s so much more support for young designers in the Netherlands. In London there is too, but it’s far more for the happy few. And I think that, when you start off there’s lots of support here, for example the way I now have a window space at the Red Light District (supported by the government) and I have a studio in the World Fashion Centre, which is much cheaper than it would normally be. I would never find that in London.
And I also like the fact that there is a sort of relaxedness in Holland, an ease to the way of life. I miss being in London because the city has a push that makes you work harder. Life seems easier here in Holland.
The thing is: the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Now that I’m here I’m missing London. There’s so much more going on there. I’m definitely planning, if the budget allows it, to go back there to show my collections for the next season.
YOUR DESIGN SIGNATURE IS MORE OUTGOING AND SURREAL THAN WE CAN SAY OF EARLIER DUTCH DESIGN IN THE TRADITION OF ‘LESS IS MORE’. DO YOU SEE YOUR WORK AS PART OF THIS NEW TENDANCE IN DUTCH DESIGN?
Yeah, I see what you mean. The generation before this was much more about the ‘less is more’ kind of quality. I think there is a new generation that I am definitely part of. When you take a look at Dutch design, it was all about ‘form follows function’ and this was also the case for garments. When you currently look at this new generation you see that the function clashes with the meaning of the thing. In nowadays fashion industry you can get a simple garment very affordable at Zara or COS, which looks beautiful and is nicely made. I don’t say that these garments can match an Alexander van Slobbe, because when you look at the insides of his designs and how it’s constructed, you can definitely tell the difference. I love what Van Slobbe does, but for me it’s all about the fun playing with things and making a garments that makes you go: ‘wow, I crave that and I love that!’ It’s more playful maybe.
IS THERE A PART OF YOUR DESIGNS THAT STILL CAN BE CALLED DUTCH?
Yeah, I find it really hard to put my finger on it, but I definitely see myself part of Dutch tradition – which is a changing tradition. There is this graphic way of designing in Dutch fashion that I’m also part of. However, I try to find a balance, because a lot of Dutch design misses a point where it’s too arty, too conceptual. It is just clothing, you know, it should just be playful.
However this is also changing, if you look at the newest generations, that don’t work from just one theme. Fashion nowadays is so much softer, it’s much more about a garment and things you’d like to wear. It almost feels like I’m contradicting myself, but I like to make a special garment, but it should just be a garment.
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MATTIJS VAN BERGEN PART 2 of 2
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