{"id":2114757,"date":"2026-08-27T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2114757"},"modified":"2026-08-27T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T13:00:00","slug":"how-fashion-outsiders-matieres-fecales-won-over-the-establishment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2114757","title":{"rendered":"How fashion outsiders Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales won over the establishment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/0-0-2400-1600\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451908.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"main-article longread\">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/fashion\/article\/70867\/1\/matieres-fecales-dazed-cover-autumn-2026-hannah-rose-dalton-steven-raj-bhaskaran\" data-article-id=\"70867\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-portrait-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.8\" data-template=\"Longread Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026\" class=\"img\" height=\"3000\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1280\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451908.jpg\" width=\"2400\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">Photography SharamSaadat, styling <span class=\"nowrap\">Jill Gattegno<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><time datetime=\"2026-08-27T16:00:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"27 August 2026\"><span class=\"month\">DateInMeta<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"27\">27,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical vertical - fashion\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\">Fashion<\/a><br \/>\n\/<br \/>\n<a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/the-autumn-2026-issue\">The Autumn 2026 Issue<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>How fashion outsiders Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales won over <span class=\"nowrap\">the establishment<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>From runway provocations to off-kilter bridal wear, Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales\u2019 seductive style is reaching new heights. Here, designers Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran reflect on their journey from misfit outsiders to <span class=\"nowrap\">fashion-world darlings<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-08-27T16:00:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"27 August 2026\"><span class=\"month\">August<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"27\">27,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - fashion\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\">Fashion<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/the-autumn-2026-issue\">The Autumn 2026 Issue<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-08-27T16:00:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"27 August 2026\"><span class=\"month\">August<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"27\">27,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/ElliotHoste\"><br \/>\nElliot Hoste<br \/>\n<\/a><\/span><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Photography\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Photography<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/ShahramSaadat\"><br \/>\nShahram Saadat<br \/>\n<\/a><\/span><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Styling\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Styling<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/JillGattegno\"><br \/>\nJill Gattegno<br \/>\n<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"dazed-gallery has-10-images \">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<header>\n<div class=\"info\"><span class=\"heading\">Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales \u2013 The Autumn <span class=\"nowrap\">2026 Issue<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumbs\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/gallery\/37345\/0\/matieres-fecales-the-autumn-2026-issue\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"880\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1320-880\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451870.jpg\" width=\"1320\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/gallery\/37345\/1\/matieres-fecales-the-autumn-2026-issue\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"690\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1035-690\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451868.jpg\" width=\"1035\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/gallery\/37345\/2\/matieres-fecales-the-autumn-2026-issue\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1350-900\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451874.jpg\" width=\"1350\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/gallery\/37345\/3\/matieres-fecales-the-autumn-2026-issue\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"690\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1035-690\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451872.jpg\" width=\"1035\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/gallery\/37345\/4\/matieres-fecales-the-autumn-2026-issue\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"887\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1330-887\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451867.jpg\" width=\"1330\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/gallery\/37345\/5\/matieres-fecales-the-autumn-2026-issue\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"694\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-78-1041-694\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451871.jpg\" width=\"1041\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-footer\">Gallery \/ 10 images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>When a pair of bare, mutant feet emerge on a runway \u2013 supported by ten-inch spears of flesh bursting from their heels \u2013 people tend to sit up and pay attention. That\u2019s what happened at Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran\u2019s first-ever catwalk show, <\/span><em><span>Non-Human<\/span><\/em><span>, staged in October 2018 at the Mandrake Hotel in London. Known jointly as Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales, the designers had until then been posting images of their alienoid, DIY garments to Instagram, augmenting their strangeness with SFX and image-editing. In otherworldly regalia, Dalton was often seen with flesh-toned stilts extending from her heels, her feet digitally distorted to resemble a pair of en-pointe skin shoes. On the catwalk, the pair actualised the illusion they\u2019d been teasing for years. Made from silicone and moulded to Dalton\u2019s feet, the first physical version of the shoes shifted their online fantasy into material reality.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The heels \u2013 thigh-high streaks of alien eroticism \u2013 acted as an entryway into the world of Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales. The Canadian duo, who are partners in both fashion and life, had been purveyors of extreme clubwear since 2015, selling mid-priced designs on an uber-popular Depop page \u2013 but the moment exposed Dalton and Bhaskaran to an even broader audience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Years later, when I meet Dalton and Bhaskaran in person, there are no feats of anatomical impossibility. The sense of immediate, physical discomfort that dominated those early shows has melted into something more luxury-minded, even as it retains its transgressive edge. Though Dalton\u2019s look is disarmingly businesslike \u2013 a shin-length wool dress in a mid-grey twill \u2013 her signature shaved head, full-coverage white make-up and soaring, curved heels are enough to offset any assumptions of normalcy. Bhaskaran is dressed, more casually, in cargo shorts, a camouflage cut-off tee and leather platform boots. Today, he\u2019s forgone his usual dramatic eye make-up for arching black sunglasses. His own shaved head is covered by a baseball cap that reads <\/span><em><span>PAINSLUT<\/span><\/em><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"ef6f6e84-c486-4d9d-ac61-b4b2012012bb\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1350\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451874.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.42\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"948\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1350\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451874.jpg\" width=\"1350\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Worn by Billy, Sigrid de l\u2019Epine and <span class=\"nowrap\">Didier Vinson<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">Photography SharamSaadat, styling <span class=\"nowrap\">Jill Gattegno<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>The time is 11am and we\u2019re in Rose Bakery, a sparsely decorated caf\u00e9 on the ground floor of Dover Street Market Paris, where their studio has been based since early 2025. It\u2019s the final day of the A\/W26 couture season, and the temperature outside is searingly hot. Dalton excuses herself to procure a peppermint tea, and returns on the phone, her brow pinched in concentration. \u201c<\/span><em><span>Oui\u2026 oui\u2026. oui\u2026<\/span><\/em><span>,\u201d she repeats, hurriedly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI\u2019m so sorry,\u201d she says when the call finishes. \u201cWhen we did our first show, Law Roach sent Steven a message about the wedding dress I wore at the end. He said, \u2018Can you save <\/span><span>this? There\u2019s something special we have to do with it.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The pair have been in and out of fittings with Zendaya since March 2025, when Roach decided to use the look as the final, showstopping gown for <\/span><em><span>The Odyssey<\/span><\/em><span> press tour. Dalton was on the phone arranging shipping to New York, the last hurdle in an arduous 18-month journey \u2013 fitting, given the film\u2019s subject matter. Five days after our conversation in Rose Bakery, Zendaya arrives at the premiere in a pleated white gown sprouting floor-length angel wings \u2013 the final look from their A\/W25 show. It\u2019s a major fashion moment that further confirms their status as a brand to be reckoned with. Before this, the pair had already collaborated with Demi Moore, Chappell Roan and Lady Gaga. They also designed Gabbriette\u2019s \u201cdistorted Cinderella\u201d dress for her wedding to The 1975 frontman Matty Healy in July \u2013 their first foray into bridal wear. \u201cAnything custom goes through us,\u201d says Bhaskaran. \u201cWe start by asking, \u2018Would this person protect us on the street if we were being harassed?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Our meeting also takes place the day after Kylie Jenner\u2019s Dunkin\u2019 ad drops. In the glossy commercial, Jenner introduces a line of \u201cKing Kylie\u201d beverages while wearing a satin pink skirt suit from Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales S\/S26. \u201cShe bought that,\u201d Dalton responds offhandedly. \u201cI didn\u2019t send that.\u201d I mention that the pairing did seem out of step with their usual custom clients. \u201cNo, she purchased it,\u201d Dalton reconfirms. \u201cAlso, you can see she\u2019s removed the shoulder pads. She took it and remade it, actually\u2013\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cAnything custom goes through us. We start by asking, \u2018Would this person protect us on the street if we were being harassed?\u2019\u201d \u2013 Steven Raj Bhaskaran<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cWhich I love!\u201d Bhaskaran interjects, quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cYeah, it\u2019s chill,\u201d claims Dalton in return.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWhat\u2019s amazing is that we\u2019re a real brand, selling luxury clothes that are beautiful and desirable,\u201d says Bhaskaran, diplomatically. \u201cPeople can embody it the way they want to <\/span><span>embody it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Alongside outfitting global stars, another defining moment was the pair\u2019s A\/W26 show, their third on the official Paris Fashion Week schedule. Titled <\/span><em><span>The One Percent<\/span><\/em><span>, the collection was an incisive send-up of the filthy rich, designed to spark conversation about wealth inequality. Featuring menacing businessmen and women with blood on their hands (which <\/span><span>were actually the crimson palms of leather gloves), A\/W26 was an exploration of the one per cent\u2019s endless quest for immortality. Dior\u2019s New Look silhouette was \u201cfecalised\u201d with jutting shoulders and frayed hems; cadaverous socialites were blinded by money masks or had their wrists bound with pearls; Alexis Stone transformed into \u201cCatwoman\u201d Jocelyn <\/span><span>Wildenstein to parody an obsession with plastic surgery, while \u201clongevity advocate\u201d Bryan Johnson appeared in the final section of the show, his presence symbolising the pernicious hunt for eternal youth. Alongside the satirical overtones, the show demonstrated Dalton and Bhaskaran\u2019s skills as genuine couturiers who know how to advance their vision beyond the <\/span><span>\u201coutsider\u201d aesthetic that has come to define them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Though Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales are technically an emerging brand, for the last ten years they have been the poster children for subversive beauty and outsider fashion. <\/span><em><span>The One Percent<\/span><\/em><span>, with its vast, shaggy greatcoats and couture-grade gowns, was a declaration that Dalton and Bhaskaran\u2019s provocative vision \u2013 and what they represent as people \u2013 had outgrown the confines of online notoriety, ready for a much grander stage. Still, the collection\u2019s commentary on extreme wealth inequality had its detractors \u2013 mostly from those who took exception to the idea that fashion designers, who operate within a largely elitist industry, should have the temerity to make such a critique. Dalton manoeuvres the potential hypocrisies by drawing a parallel to the art world. \u201cIt relates back to, \u2018Do you see fashion as art?\u2019 In art you can make a statement like that, but in fashion it\u2019s like, \u2018Oh, you can\u2019t do <\/span><span>that,\u2019\u201d she says, reminding us that \u201ca painting is worth more than a dress. Art is a business, too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"77ff0c46-c802-43ff-b953-b4b201200bbd\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1035\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451868.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.77\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"1350\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1035\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451868.jpg\" width=\"1035\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Worn by <span class=\"nowrap\">Konrad Bauer<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">Photography SharamSaadat, styling <span class=\"nowrap\">Jill Gattegno<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"0f123c14-e64b-40bb-bc4d-b4b2012010b6\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1035\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451872.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.77\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"1350\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1035\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451872.jpg\" width=\"1035\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Worn by Sigrid <span class=\"nowrap\">de l\u2019Epine<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">Photography SharamSaadat, styling <span class=\"nowrap\">Jill Gattegno<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Actor Sarah Paulson drew a similar parallel. When the 2026 Met Gala proposed that \u201cFashion Is Art\u201d, Paulson responded with a shredded ball gown and dollar bill mask from <\/span><em><span>The One Percent<\/span><\/em><span> collection. Her thinly veiled commentary on the Gala\u2019s billionaire backers didn\u2019t go unnoticed, but many saw an irony in the stunt \u2013 she was attending the same event they were, after all. \u201cI understood that, I guess,\u201d concedes Dalton, in response to the criticism. \u201cTo clarify, she didn\u2019t buy the dress; we loaned that \u2013 there were a lot of articles like, \u2018She spent $100k on her seat! She spent another $100k on her dress!\u2019,\u201d which, ultimately, was not true. <\/span><span>\u201cThe only way to deconstruct and reconstruct dynamics is from within,\u201d says Bhaskaran. So was the dress taking direct aim at Jeff Bezos and Amazon\u2019s involvement in the Gala? \u201cOf course!\u201d they say in unison. \u201cBut it goes beyond the Met Gala,\u201d says Bhaskaran. \u201cIt\u2019s how we see life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The seed that Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales sprang from was planted 12 years ago, when Dalton and Bhaskaran met at LaSalle College in Montreal. Bhaskaran, a lower-income student in combat boots and a Beth Ditto T-shirt, encountered Dalton for the first time in a fashion illustration class. \u201cI came in late and saw Hannah sandwiched between two other girls. You were wearing a pussy-bow blouse\u201d \u2013 he says, turning towards her \u2013 \u201cand you had a below-the-knee pleated skirt. And Tory Burch flats.\u201d Bhaskaran\u2019s curiosity was piqued; Dalton, with her long, mousy hair, seemed prissy in comparison to himself. \u201cThere was a little bit of bitterness,\u201d he recounts. \u201cSeeing someone like Hannah physically represent a symbol of privilege, of acceptance and normality \u2013 it was a confrontational feeling.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>When discussing her upbringing, Dalton is upfront about the advantages she enjoyed. Born in New Zealand in 1995, Dalton and her family moved to Montreal when she was just six months old, following her father\u2019s work. \u201cBecause my dad was a diplomat, I had a wide set of privileges \u2013 going to private school and being in a circle of elite people in Westmount.\u201d Though she was obsessed with fashion as a child, when she was 17 this love was put to the test by the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh. \u201cThat burst my bubble, to know that there was suffering happening through something I would purchase at Abercrombie\u2026\u201d she says, trailing off. \u201cFrom that moment I decided not to buy fast fashion any more.\u201d (The name Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales was later born from this same feeling \u2013 Dalton and Bhaskaran both agreed that the fashion industry was \u201cshit\u201d.)<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cI never wanted to be seen or noticed. I just wanted to blend in and get through it\u201d \u2013 Hannah Rose Dalton<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Dalton continued to pursue garment-making, but with sustainability as a driving force. She began experimenting with her clothes, making pieces out of newspaper and other found materials. \u201cI was very prim and proper,\u201d she says of her childhood style, which Bhaskaran compares to Blair Waldorf from <\/span><em><span>Gossip Girl<\/span><\/em><span>. \u201cI was literally making my school uniform, but out of recycled materials.\u201d Though she had begun to create for herself, fashion had yet to assume the identity-making function it would later in life. \u201cI never wanted to be seen or noticed. I just wanted to blend in and get through it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Bhaskaran\u2019s path to fashion school was markedly different. Born in Montreal in 1993, to a Guyanese mother and Sri Lankan father, his family relocated to Guyana after the death of his maternal grandmother, when he was just six months old. But their family life was further upended following the revelation that his father had had a child with another woman. For three years, Bhaskaran\u2019s father, who was often violent, forced them all to live together. \u201cMy dad was abusing [my mother] and forcing her to live with this woman that he cheated on her with,\u201d he recalls. \u201cThey were all sleeping in the same bed. It was the craziest environment.\u201d Bhaskaran\u2019s mother eventually escaped the grasp of her husband, fleeing to New York to seek refuge with her sister. \u201cI still remember my mom abandoning us when I was three.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Four years later, by which time Bhaskaran was seven and his sister ten, their mother returned to Guyana and took them back to Montreal. Bhaskaran\u2019s father made his fortune through nefarious means, which allowed his children to attend private schools, but left them in extreme poverty when they returned to Montreal. \u201cI was very cocky, very arrogant,\u201d remembers Bhaskaran, moving on to his fashion school days, during which he attended underground raves with his boyfriend and dabbled in illegal substances. \u201cI always came in late. I had issues [with the teacher] because I sort of drew better than he did, so I would <\/span><span>redraw things that he would do.\u201d To improve his standing in class, Bhaskaran befriended teacher\u2019s pet Dalton \u2013 <\/span><em><span>here\u2019s a person who would let me copy their notes!<\/span><\/em><span>, he thought. The friendship they struck up soon developed into something more than a platonic bond.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"5522cf9b-9d12-4a0f-889c-b4b201200fc7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1041\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451871.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.77\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"1350\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1041\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451871.jpg\" width=\"1041\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Worn by <span class=\"nowrap\">Witney Laplace<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">Photography SharamSaadat, styling <span class=\"nowrap\">Jill Gattegno<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"17cf66d5-2ee2-49de-b44b-b4b201201207\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1035\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451873.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.77\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"1350\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1035\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451873.jpg\" width=\"1035\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Worn by Akila and <span class=\"nowrap\">Balat Pal<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">Photography SharamSaadat, styling <span class=\"nowrap\">Jill Gattegno<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>The word that Dalton and Bhaskaran use the most, by a wide margin, to describe the start of their romantic relationship is \u201cconfusing\u201d. \u201cI never had a boyfriend or girlfriend, so I\u2019d never experienced falling in love with somebody, which was confusing,\u201d remembers Dalton. \u201cWhen our friendship blossomed into our relationship, it was very confusing for both of us,\u201d recalls Bhaskaran. \u201cIt was confusing for you, who had spent so much of your life trying to be gay, and convincing your mom that it\u2019s OK to be gay,\u201d continues Dalton, who adds that their relationship is \u201cbeyond sexuality \u2013 it\u2019s love.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It\u2019s a kind of partnership that might remind you of Rick Owens and Mich\u00e8le Lamy, who have played a pivotal role in the Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales story. In 2018, Owens cold-emailed the pair after reading an interview with them in <\/span><em><span>The New York Times<\/span><\/em><span>. Dinner in Paris soon followed, and Owens vowed to look after them, taking on a mentor\u2019s role. Dalton and Bhaskaran quickly became part of Owens\u2019 world, modelling in his shows and becoming \u201cunofficial ambassadors\u201d for the brand. \u201cIt became an amazing moment for them also,\u201d says Dalton, \u201cbecause we\u2019re from a different generation, but still committed to the same philosophies of beauty and human transformation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But in 2022, Dalton and Bhaskaran were forced to put their brand on hold after moving to Paris and experiencing the competitive nature of the industry. A chance encounter with Adrian Joffe, the Dover Street Market and Comme des Gar\u00e7ons president, backstage at a Madonna concert, would change that. The duo later pitched to him an upscale Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales, harnessing the raw energy of their Depop days but focused on the luxury market. \u201cThen he ghosted us for four months,\u201d Dalton says with a laugh. \u201cFour months of standby.\u201d When Joffe finally did respond, the pair were DJing at Lamy\u2019s 80th birthday in Venice. His text read: \u201clet\u2019s do this\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cWe\u2019re, like, popular today\u201d \u2013 Steven Raj Bhaskaran<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Outside of these relationships, their own network had also been taking shape. \u201cIt was so exhilarating, being a part of their world,\u201d says Chadd Curry, a performance artist who walked in that first show at the Mandrake Hotel. While at high school in Montreal, Bhaskaran discovered Curry on the street style blog Lookbook.nu, when Curry was a Rick Owens sales clerk in chalky white make-up and Edwardian attire. The mutual admiration blossomed into a years-long online friendship between the trio, but it wasn\u2019t until the S\/S19 runway that they met in the flesh. Curry wore a minidress fashioned from aluminium office blinds, fitted directly to his body before the show. He was one figure in a wider creative circle that\u2019s now central to Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales\u2019 shows, alongside DJ Lewis G Burton, performance artist Gena Marvin, drag queen Dragoness Lola von Flame and cult model Debra Shaw.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This creative vision, bolstered by the stewardship of Owens, Lamy and Joffe, has burst open the doors of possibility. Today, Dalton and Bhaskaran are beacons of attention for fashion\u2019s top set. Lady Amanda Harlech, the stylist, consultant and former Lagerfeld muse, approaches our table to introduce herself. She\u2019s prepping for a \u201cNarnia shoot\u201d and just needs to let them know she\u2019s pulled one of their pieces. Konstantinos Katalakinos, the husband of Jean Paul Gaultier, later arrives to bemoan their absence from the label\u2019s couture show a day earlier (\u201cI\u2019ve been so busy, but looking from afar and sending good vibes,\u201d Dalton offers as consolation). Joffe also bounces into frame, inviting us all upstairs to his office once the interview has concluded. \u201cWe\u2019re, like, popular today,\u201d laughs Bhaskaran.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>As they sit across from me, one might assume that the pair\u2019s bright and warm demeanours are antithetical to their visual aesthetic. But, really, the essence of Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales wills you to understand the very opposite, to unlearn the prejudice that difference \u2013 sometimes even extreme difference \u2013 is something to be shunned. Handling scrutiny of their image has become second nature to Dalton and Bhaskaran, ever since the pair shaved their heads in university, an act of defiance against what they saw as a toxically normative world. What constitutes \u201cnormal\u201d is a question that is repeated multiple times in our conversation. \u201cBefore we met each other, we were very normal, and we felt suffocated in that,\u201d says Bhaskaran, who describes a hypothetical stylist who might take one of their dresses, \u201cstrip it back and put it on somebody who looks super normal.\u201d But what does that look like to them? \u201cNormal is someone who is naturally beautiful, but relies on that,\u201d says Bhaskaran. \u201cIn fashion that\u2019s sort of the norm. We like to push that even further \u2013 but our standards of normality are quite far out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><em>Hair Gabriel de Fries using MODOM Grooming, make-up Catalina Sartor at OPUS Beauty, nails Anastasiia Herasymeniuk, models Adem Aston at Gar\u00e7ons by Gervais, Konrad Bauer and Didier Vinson at Elite, Balat Pal at Metropolitan Models, Akila Mameri at SEE Models, Sigrid de l\u2019Epine at Marilyn Agency, Witney Laplace at Dream Model Management, Billy, photographic assistants Shane Burk, Adrien Granon, styling assistant Charlyne Perez, hair assistants Yili Dong, Pol Guarn\u00e9 Ayuso, make-up assistants Alexandra Gavrilescu, Sandra Lefort, production Sonia Haouat and Roman Birenzweigue at Premier Cri, production assistant Merwan Foiret, post-production Granon Digital, casting Tanguy Gavignet and Tom Goddard<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<footer class=\"article-footer\">\n<div class=\"article-series header tags\"><span class=\"heading\">More on these topics:<\/span><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\">Fashion<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/the-autumn-2026-issue\">The Autumn 2026 Issue<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/matieres-fecales\">Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/fecal-matter\">Fecal Matter<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/rick-owens\">Rick Owens<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/michele-lamy\">Michele Lamy<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/adrian-joffe\">Adrian Joffe<\/a><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<div class=\"grid split-list__header\">\n<div class=\"section-header\">\n<div class=\"section-header__link\">\n<h2 class=\"section-header__title\">Trending<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"split-list-scene\" data-split-scene>\n<section class=\"split-list\" id=\"trending\" data-split>\n<div class=\"split-list__layout\" aria-label=\"Trending\">\n<div class=\"split-list__feature\"><a class=\"split-hero\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/70866\/1\/yayoi-archive-pull-march-2000-issue-art-polka-dots\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"split-hero__media\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Yayoi Kusama: Spot The Difference\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/640\/0-0-1184-789\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451888.png\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-hero__panel\">\n<div class=\"split-hero__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"split-hero__title\">Revisit this memorable conversation with Yayoi Kusama from March 2000<\/h3>\n<p class=\"split-hero__summary\">The legendary artist has died, aged 97. This interview and accompanying article from Dazed\u2019s March 2000 issue explore the origins of Kusama\u2019s most iconic artworks, from her peep show to her polka dots, to infinity and beyond&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"split-hero__category\">Art &amp; Photography<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-list__rail\" data-split-rail tabindex=\"0\">\n<div class=\"split-list__railInner\"><a class=\"split-rail-card card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/52272\/1\/yayoi-kusama-polka-dot-japanese-artist-fashion-louis-vuitton-rei-kawakubo\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__img-wrapper card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Yayoi Kusama\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/640\/68-225-2728-1818\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451883.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__content card-latest__content\"><span class=\"split-rail-card__ribbon card-latest__ribbon\">Fashion<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"split-rail-card__title card-latest__title\">Yayoi Kusama: Connecting the dots on her love affair with fashion<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"split-rail-card card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/70830\/1\/comme-des-garcons-aw26-show-rei-kawakubo-interview-quotes-ai-black\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__img-wrapper card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"DC293_Cover_Comme_des_garcons_4x5\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/640\/0-758-2400-1600\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451894.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__content card-latest__content\"><span class=\"split-rail-card__ribbon card-latest__ribbon\">Fashion<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"split-rail-card__title card-latest__title\">Rei Kawakubo on AI, the colour black and her advice for young designers<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"split-rail-card card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/70815\/1\/adidas-futurecool-new-3d-sneaker-exclusive-raffle\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__img-wrapper card-latest__img-wrapper\">\n<p class=\"split-rail-card__campaign optional-paragraph\"> adidas<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"CI_FUTURECOOL_SPORTSWEAR_GTMSO_SS27_Duo_5_LR\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/640\/0-0-3000-2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451431.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__content card-latest__content\"><span class=\"split-rail-card__ribbon card-latest__ribbon\">Fashion<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"split-rail-card__title card-latest__title\">adidas is 3D-printing the future of footwear<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"split-rail-card card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/70859\/1\/gta-6-grand-theft-auto-vi-rockstar-exclusive-deep-dive-game-unparalleled-world\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__img-wrapper card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"DC293_Cover_GTA_4x5\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/640\/0-15-2400-1600\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451824.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__content card-latest__content\"><span class=\"split-rail-card__ribbon card-latest__ribbon\">Life &amp; Culture<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"split-rail-card__title card-latest__title\">GTAVI: An exclusive deep dive into the video game of the decade<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"split-rail-card card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/70864\/1\/5-iconic-dolly-parton-life-lessons-best-quotes\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__img-wrapper card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"1393574\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/640\/0-862-1600-1066\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451864.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__content card-latest__content\"><span class=\"split-rail-card__ribbon card-latest__ribbon\">Music<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"split-rail-card__title card-latest__title\">5 iconic life lessons from Dolly Parton<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"split-rail-card card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/70856\/1\/nick-haymes-chronograph-mack-photo-book-photography-growing-up-coming-of-age\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__img-wrapper card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Nick Haymes, Chronograph\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/640\/0-582-1574-1049\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451831.jpeg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__content card-latest__content\"><span class=\"split-rail-card__ribbon card-latest__ribbon\">Art &amp; Photography<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"split-rail-card__title card-latest__title\">A coming-of-age story told across 1,000 photographs<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"split-rail-card card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/70858\/1\/where-are-all-the-black-coming-of-age-shows-sterling-point-ya-representation\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__img-wrapper card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sterling Point\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/640\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451826.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__content card-latest__content\"><span class=\"split-rail-card__ribbon card-latest__ribbon\">Life &amp; Culture<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"split-rail-card__title card-latest__title\">Where are all the Black coming-of-age shows?<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"split-rail-card card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/gallery\/34547\/0\/in-photos-dolly-parton-s-beauty-evolution\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__img-wrapper card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"In pictures: the beauty evolution of Dolly Parton\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/640\/0-710-1998-1332\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1390\/3\/1393577.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__content card-latest__content\"><span class=\"split-rail-card__ribbon card-latest__ribbon\">Beauty<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"split-rail-card__title card-latest__title\">In pictures: Dolly Parton\u2019s beauty evolution<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"image-navigation\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/news\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img one\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">News<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img two\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Fashion<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img three\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Music<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img four\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Film &amp; TV<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/70867\/1\/matieres-fecales-dazed-cover-autumn-2026-hannah-rose-dalton-steven-raj-bhaskaran#features\" class=\"image-navigation__img five\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Features<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img six\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Beauty<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img seven\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Life &amp; Culture<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img eight\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Art &amp; Photography<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"dazed-gallery has-10-images \">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<header>\n<div class=\"info\"><span class=\"heading\">Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales \u2013 The Autumn <span class=\"nowrap\">2026 Issue<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumbs\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/gallery\/37345\/0\/matieres-fecales-the-autumn-2026-issue\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"880\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1320-880\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451870.jpg\" width=\"1320\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/gallery\/37345\/1\/matieres-fecales-the-autumn-2026-issue\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"690\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1035-690\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451868.jpg\" width=\"1035\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/gallery\/37345\/2\/matieres-fecales-the-autumn-2026-issue\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1350-900\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451874.jpg\" width=\"1350\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/gallery\/37345\/3\/matieres-fecales-the-autumn-2026-issue\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"690\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1035-690\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451872.jpg\" width=\"1035\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/gallery\/37345\/4\/matieres-fecales-the-autumn-2026-issue\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"887\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1330-887\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451867.jpg\" width=\"1330\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/gallery\/37345\/5\/matieres-fecales-the-autumn-2026-issue\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"694\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-78-1041-694\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451871.jpg\" width=\"1041\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-footer\">Gallery \/ 10 images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>When a pair of bare, mutant feet emerge on a runway \u2013 supported by ten-inch spears of flesh bursting from their heels \u2013 people tend to sit up and pay attention. That\u2019s what happened at Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran\u2019s first-ever catwalk show, <\/span><em><span>Non-Human<\/span><\/em><span>, staged in October 2018 at the Mandrake Hotel in London. Known jointly as Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales, the designers had until then been posting images of their alienoid, DIY garments to Instagram, augmenting their strangeness with SFX and image-editing. In otherworldly regalia, Dalton was often seen with flesh-toned stilts extending from her heels, her feet digitally distorted to resemble a pair of en-pointe skin shoes. On the catwalk, the pair actualised the illusion they\u2019d been teasing for years. Made from silicone and moulded to Dalton\u2019s feet, the first physical version of the shoes shifted their online fantasy into material reality.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The heels \u2013 thigh-high streaks of alien eroticism \u2013 acted as an entryway into the world of Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales. The Canadian duo, who are partners in both fashion and life, had been purveyors of extreme clubwear since 2015, selling mid-priced designs on an uber-popular Depop page \u2013 but the moment exposed Dalton and Bhaskaran to an even broader audience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Years later, when I meet Dalton and Bhaskaran in person, there are no feats of anatomical impossibility. The sense of immediate, physical discomfort that dominated those early shows has melted into something more luxury-minded, even as it retains its transgressive edge. Though Dalton\u2019s look is disarmingly businesslike \u2013 a shin-length wool dress in a mid-grey twill \u2013 her signature shaved head, full-coverage white make-up and soaring, curved heels are enough to offset any assumptions of normalcy. Bhaskaran is dressed, more casually, in cargo shorts, a camouflage cut-off tee and leather platform boots. Today, he\u2019s forgone his usual dramatic eye make-up for arching black sunglasses. His own shaved head is covered by a baseball cap that reads <\/span><em><span>PAINSLUT<\/span><\/em><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"ef6f6e84-c486-4d9d-ac61-b4b2012012bb\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1350\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451874.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.42\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"948\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1350\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451874.jpg\" width=\"1350\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Worn by Billy, Sigrid de l\u2019Epine and <span class=\"nowrap\">Didier Vinson<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">Photography SharamSaadat, styling <span class=\"nowrap\">Jill Gattegno<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>The time is 11am and we\u2019re in Rose Bakery, a sparsely decorated caf\u00e9 on the ground floor of Dover Street Market Paris, where their studio has been based since early 2025. It\u2019s the final day of the A\/W26 couture season, and the temperature outside is searingly hot. Dalton excuses herself to procure a peppermint tea, and returns on the phone, her brow pinched in concentration. \u201c<\/span><em><span>Oui\u2026 oui\u2026. oui\u2026<\/span><\/em><span>,\u201d she repeats, hurriedly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI\u2019m so sorry,\u201d she says when the call finishes. \u201cWhen we did our first show, Law Roach sent Steven a message about the wedding dress I wore at the end. He said, \u2018Can you save <\/span><span>this? There\u2019s something special we have to do with it.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The pair have been in and out of fittings with Zendaya since March 2025, when Roach decided to use the look as the final, showstopping gown for <\/span><em><span>The Odyssey<\/span><\/em><span> press tour. Dalton was on the phone arranging shipping to New York, the last hurdle in an arduous 18-month journey \u2013 fitting, given the film\u2019s subject matter. Five days after our conversation in Rose Bakery, Zendaya arrives at the premiere in a pleated white gown sprouting floor-length angel wings \u2013 the final look from their A\/W25 show. It\u2019s a major fashion moment that further confirms their status as a brand to be reckoned with. Before this, the pair had already collaborated with Demi Moore, Chappell Roan and Lady Gaga. They also designed Gabbriette\u2019s \u201cdistorted Cinderella\u201d dress for her wedding to The 1975 frontman Matty Healy in July \u2013 their first foray into bridal wear. \u201cAnything custom goes through us,\u201d says Bhaskaran. \u201cWe start by asking, \u2018Would this person protect us on the street if we were being harassed?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Our meeting also takes place the day after Kylie Jenner\u2019s Dunkin\u2019 ad drops. In the glossy commercial, Jenner introduces a line of \u201cKing Kylie\u201d beverages while wearing a satin pink skirt suit from Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales S\/S26. \u201cShe bought that,\u201d Dalton responds offhandedly. \u201cI didn\u2019t send that.\u201d I mention that the pairing did seem out of step with their usual custom clients. \u201cNo, she purchased it,\u201d Dalton reconfirms. \u201cAlso, you can see she\u2019s removed the shoulder pads. She took it and remade it, actually\u2013\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cAnything custom goes through us. We start by asking, \u2018Would this person protect us on the street if we were being harassed?\u2019\u201d \u2013 Steven Raj Bhaskaran<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cWhich I love!\u201d Bhaskaran interjects, quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cYeah, it\u2019s chill,\u201d claims Dalton in return.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWhat\u2019s amazing is that we\u2019re a real brand, selling luxury clothes that are beautiful and desirable,\u201d says Bhaskaran, diplomatically. \u201cPeople can embody it the way they want to <\/span><span>embody it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Alongside outfitting global stars, another defining moment was the pair\u2019s A\/W26 show, their third on the official Paris Fashion Week schedule. Titled <\/span><em><span>The One Percent<\/span><\/em><span>, the collection was an incisive send-up of the filthy rich, designed to spark conversation about wealth inequality. Featuring menacing businessmen and women with blood on their hands (which <\/span><span>were actually the crimson palms of leather gloves), A\/W26 was an exploration of the one per cent\u2019s endless quest for immortality. Dior\u2019s New Look silhouette was \u201cfecalised\u201d with jutting shoulders and frayed hems; cadaverous socialites were blinded by money masks or had their wrists bound with pearls; Alexis Stone transformed into \u201cCatwoman\u201d Jocelyn <\/span><span>Wildenstein to parody an obsession with plastic surgery, while \u201clongevity advocate\u201d Bryan Johnson appeared in the final section of the show, his presence symbolising the pernicious hunt for eternal youth. Alongside the satirical overtones, the show demonstrated Dalton and Bhaskaran\u2019s skills as genuine couturiers who know how to advance their vision beyond the <\/span><span>\u201coutsider\u201d aesthetic that has come to define them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Though Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales are technically an emerging brand, for the last ten years they have been the poster children for subversive beauty and outsider fashion. <\/span><em><span>The One Percent<\/span><\/em><span>, with its vast, shaggy greatcoats and couture-grade gowns, was a declaration that Dalton and Bhaskaran\u2019s provocative vision \u2013 and what they represent as people \u2013 had outgrown the confines of online notoriety, ready for a much grander stage. Still, the collection\u2019s commentary on extreme wealth inequality had its detractors \u2013 mostly from those who took exception to the idea that fashion designers, who operate within a largely elitist industry, should have the temerity to make such a critique. Dalton manoeuvres the potential hypocrisies by drawing a parallel to the art world. \u201cIt relates back to, \u2018Do you see fashion as art?\u2019 In art you can make a statement like that, but in fashion it\u2019s like, \u2018Oh, you can\u2019t do <\/span><span>that,\u2019\u201d she says, reminding us that \u201ca painting is worth more than a dress. Art is a business, too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"77ff0c46-c802-43ff-b953-b4b201200bbd\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1035\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451868.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.77\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"1350\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1035\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451868.jpg\" width=\"1035\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Worn by <span class=\"nowrap\">Konrad Bauer<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">Photography SharamSaadat, styling <span class=\"nowrap\">Jill Gattegno<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"0f123c14-e64b-40bb-bc4d-b4b2012010b6\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1035\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451872.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.77\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"1350\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1035\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451872.jpg\" width=\"1035\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Worn by Sigrid <span class=\"nowrap\">de l\u2019Epine<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">Photography SharamSaadat, styling <span class=\"nowrap\">Jill Gattegno<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Actor Sarah Paulson drew a similar parallel. When the 2026 Met Gala proposed that \u201cFashion Is Art\u201d, Paulson responded with a shredded ball gown and dollar bill mask from <\/span><em><span>The One Percent<\/span><\/em><span> collection. Her thinly veiled commentary on the Gala\u2019s billionaire backers didn\u2019t go unnoticed, but many saw an irony in the stunt \u2013 she was attending the same event they were, after all. \u201cI understood that, I guess,\u201d concedes Dalton, in response to the criticism. \u201cTo clarify, she didn\u2019t buy the dress; we loaned that \u2013 there were a lot of articles like, \u2018She spent $100k on her seat! She spent another $100k on her dress!\u2019,\u201d which, ultimately, was not true. <\/span><span>\u201cThe only way to deconstruct and reconstruct dynamics is from within,\u201d says Bhaskaran. So was the dress taking direct aim at Jeff Bezos and Amazon\u2019s involvement in the Gala? \u201cOf course!\u201d they say in unison. \u201cBut it goes beyond the Met Gala,\u201d says Bhaskaran. \u201cIt\u2019s how we see life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The seed that Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales sprang from was planted 12 years ago, when Dalton and Bhaskaran met at LaSalle College in Montreal. Bhaskaran, a lower-income student in combat boots and a Beth Ditto T-shirt, encountered Dalton for the first time in a fashion illustration class. \u201cI came in late and saw Hannah sandwiched between two other girls. You were wearing a pussy-bow blouse\u201d \u2013 he says, turning towards her \u2013 \u201cand you had a below-the-knee pleated skirt. And Tory Burch flats.\u201d Bhaskaran\u2019s curiosity was piqued; Dalton, with her long, mousy hair, seemed prissy in comparison to himself. \u201cThere was a little bit of bitterness,\u201d he recounts. \u201cSeeing someone like Hannah physically represent a symbol of privilege, of acceptance and normality \u2013 it was a confrontational feeling.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>When discussing her upbringing, Dalton is upfront about the advantages she enjoyed. Born in New Zealand in 1995, Dalton and her family moved to Montreal when she was just six months old, following her father\u2019s work. \u201cBecause my dad was a diplomat, I had a wide set of privileges \u2013 going to private school and being in a circle of elite people in Westmount.\u201d Though she was obsessed with fashion as a child, when she was 17 this love was put to the test by the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh. \u201cThat burst my bubble, to know that there was suffering happening through something I would purchase at Abercrombie\u2026\u201d she says, trailing off. \u201cFrom that moment I decided not to buy fast fashion any more.\u201d (The name Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales was later born from this same feeling \u2013 Dalton and Bhaskaran both agreed that the fashion industry was \u201cshit\u201d.)<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cI never wanted to be seen or noticed. I just wanted to blend in and get through it\u201d \u2013 Hannah Rose Dalton<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Dalton continued to pursue garment-making, but with sustainability as a driving force. She began experimenting with her clothes, making pieces out of newspaper and other found materials. \u201cI was very prim and proper,\u201d she says of her childhood style, which Bhaskaran compares to Blair Waldorf from <\/span><em><span>Gossip Girl<\/span><\/em><span>. \u201cI was literally making my school uniform, but out of recycled materials.\u201d Though she had begun to create for herself, fashion had yet to assume the identity-making function it would later in life. \u201cI never wanted to be seen or noticed. I just wanted to blend in and get through it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Bhaskaran\u2019s path to fashion school was markedly different. Born in Montreal in 1993, to a Guyanese mother and Sri Lankan father, his family relocated to Guyana after the death of his maternal grandmother, when he was just six months old. But their family life was further upended following the revelation that his father had had a child with another woman. For three years, Bhaskaran\u2019s father, who was often violent, forced them all to live together. \u201cMy dad was abusing [my mother] and forcing her to live with this woman that he cheated on her with,\u201d he recalls. \u201cThey were all sleeping in the same bed. It was the craziest environment.\u201d Bhaskaran\u2019s mother eventually escaped the grasp of her husband, fleeing to New York to seek refuge with her sister. \u201cI still remember my mom abandoning us when I was three.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Four years later, by which time Bhaskaran was seven and his sister ten, their mother returned to Guyana and took them back to Montreal. Bhaskaran\u2019s father made his fortune through nefarious means, which allowed his children to attend private schools, but left them in extreme poverty when they returned to Montreal. \u201cI was very cocky, very arrogant,\u201d remembers Bhaskaran, moving on to his fashion school days, during which he attended underground raves with his boyfriend and dabbled in illegal substances. \u201cI always came in late. I had issues [with the teacher] because I sort of drew better than he did, so I would <\/span><span>redraw things that he would do.\u201d To improve his standing in class, Bhaskaran befriended teacher\u2019s pet Dalton \u2013 <\/span><em><span>here\u2019s a person who would let me copy their notes!<\/span><\/em><span>, he thought. The friendship they struck up soon developed into something more than a platonic bond.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"5522cf9b-9d12-4a0f-889c-b4b201200fc7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1041\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451871.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.77\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"1350\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1041\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451871.jpg\" width=\"1041\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Worn by <span class=\"nowrap\">Witney Laplace<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">Photography SharamSaadat, styling <span class=\"nowrap\">Jill Gattegno<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"17cf66d5-2ee2-49de-b44b-b4b201201207\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1035\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451873.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.77\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales Autumn 2026 issue\" class=\"img\" height=\"1350\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1035\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451873.jpg\" width=\"1035\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Worn by Akila and <span class=\"nowrap\">Balat Pal<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">Photography SharamSaadat, styling <span class=\"nowrap\">Jill Gattegno<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>The word that Dalton and Bhaskaran use the most, by a wide margin, to describe the start of their romantic relationship is \u201cconfusing\u201d. \u201cI never had a boyfriend or girlfriend, so I\u2019d never experienced falling in love with somebody, which was confusing,\u201d remembers Dalton. \u201cWhen our friendship blossomed into our relationship, it was very confusing for both of us,\u201d recalls Bhaskaran. \u201cIt was confusing for you, who had spent so much of your life trying to be gay, and convincing your mom that it\u2019s OK to be gay,\u201d continues Dalton, who adds that their relationship is \u201cbeyond sexuality \u2013 it\u2019s love.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It\u2019s a kind of partnership that might remind you of Rick Owens and Mich\u00e8le Lamy, who have played a pivotal role in the Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales story. In 2018, Owens cold-emailed the pair after reading an interview with them in <\/span><em><span>The New York Times<\/span><\/em><span>. Dinner in Paris soon followed, and Owens vowed to look after them, taking on a mentor\u2019s role. Dalton and Bhaskaran quickly became part of Owens\u2019 world, modelling in his shows and becoming \u201cunofficial ambassadors\u201d for the brand. \u201cIt became an amazing moment for them also,\u201d says Dalton, \u201cbecause we\u2019re from a different generation, but still committed to the same philosophies of beauty and human transformation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But in 2022, Dalton and Bhaskaran were forced to put their brand on hold after moving to Paris and experiencing the competitive nature of the industry. A chance encounter with Adrian Joffe, the Dover Street Market and Comme des Gar\u00e7ons president, backstage at a Madonna concert, would change that. The duo later pitched to him an upscale Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales, harnessing the raw energy of their Depop days but focused on the luxury market. \u201cThen he ghosted us for four months,\u201d Dalton says with a laugh. \u201cFour months of standby.\u201d When Joffe finally did respond, the pair were DJing at Lamy\u2019s 80th birthday in Venice. His text read: \u201clet\u2019s do this\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cWe\u2019re, like, popular today\u201d \u2013 Steven Raj Bhaskaran<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Outside of these relationships, their own network had also been taking shape. \u201cIt was so exhilarating, being a part of their world,\u201d says Chadd Curry, a performance artist who walked in that first show at the Mandrake Hotel. While at high school in Montreal, Bhaskaran discovered Curry on the street style blog Lookbook.nu, when Curry was a Rick Owens sales clerk in chalky white make-up and Edwardian attire. The mutual admiration blossomed into a years-long online friendship between the trio, but it wasn\u2019t until the S\/S19 runway that they met in the flesh. Curry wore a minidress fashioned from aluminium office blinds, fitted directly to his body before the show. He was one figure in a wider creative circle that\u2019s now central to Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales\u2019 shows, alongside DJ Lewis G Burton, performance artist Gena Marvin, drag queen Dragoness Lola von Flame and cult model Debra Shaw.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This creative vision, bolstered by the stewardship of Owens, Lamy and Joffe, has burst open the doors of possibility. Today, Dalton and Bhaskaran are beacons of attention for fashion\u2019s top set. Lady Amanda Harlech, the stylist, consultant and former Lagerfeld muse, approaches our table to introduce herself. She\u2019s prepping for a \u201cNarnia shoot\u201d and just needs to let them know she\u2019s pulled one of their pieces. Konstantinos Katalakinos, the husband of Jean Paul Gaultier, later arrives to bemoan their absence from the label\u2019s couture show a day earlier (\u201cI\u2019ve been so busy, but looking from afar and sending good vibes,\u201d Dalton offers as consolation). Joffe also bounces into frame, inviting us all upstairs to his office once the interview has concluded. \u201cWe\u2019re, like, popular today,\u201d laughs Bhaskaran.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>As they sit across from me, one might assume that the pair\u2019s bright and warm demeanours are antithetical to their visual aesthetic. But, really, the essence of Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales wills you to understand the very opposite, to unlearn the prejudice that difference \u2013 sometimes even extreme difference \u2013 is something to be shunned. Handling scrutiny of their image has become second nature to Dalton and Bhaskaran, ever since the pair shaved their heads in university, an act of defiance against what they saw as a toxically normative world. What constitutes \u201cnormal\u201d is a question that is repeated multiple times in our conversation. \u201cBefore we met each other, we were very normal, and we felt suffocated in that,\u201d says Bhaskaran, who describes a hypothetical stylist who might take one of their dresses, \u201cstrip it back and put it on somebody who looks super normal.\u201d But what does that look like to them? \u201cNormal is someone who is naturally beautiful, but relies on that,\u201d says Bhaskaran. \u201cIn fashion that\u2019s sort of the norm. We like to push that even further \u2013 but our standards of normality are quite far out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><em>Hair Gabriel de Fries using MODOM Grooming, make-up Catalina Sartor at OPUS Beauty, nails Anastasiia Herasymeniuk, models Adem Aston at Gar\u00e7ons by Gervais, Konrad Bauer and Didier Vinson at Elite, Balat Pal at Metropolitan Models, Akila Mameri at SEE Models, Sigrid de l\u2019Epine at Marilyn Agency, Witney Laplace at Dream Model Management, Billy, photographic assistants Shane Burk, Adrien Granon, styling assistant Charlyne Perez, hair assistants Yili Dong, Pol Guarn\u00e9 Ayuso, make-up assistants Alexandra Gavrilescu, Sandra Lefort, production Sonia Haouat and Roman Birenzweigue at Premier Cri, production assistant Merwan Foiret, post-production Granon Digital, casting Tanguy Gavignet and Tom Goddard<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/70867\/1\/matieres-fecales-dazed-cover-autumn-2026-hannah-rose-dalton-steven-raj-bhaskaran&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/0-0-2400-1600\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1450\/1\/1451908.jpg&#8221;] Photography SharamSaadat, styling Jill Gattegno DateInMeta\u00a0 27,\u00a0 2026 Fashion \/ The Autumn 2026 Issue How fashion outsiders Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales won over the establishment From runway provocations to off-kilter bridal wear, Mati\u00e8res F\u00e9cales\u2019 seductive style is reaching new heights. Here, designers Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran reflect on their journey from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,76],"class_list":["post-2114757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2114757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2114757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2114757\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2114757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2114757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2114757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}