Published
September 29, 2026
Steven Raj Bhaskaran has established himself as a master of striking imagery. On Monday evening, at the opening of Paris Fashion Week, the designer behind the Matières Fécales label closed the vast artistic show-happening, dubbed ‘The Ninety-Nine Percent’, with two models: one in an immaculate white single-button suit and the other in a gold lamé evening gown with a long train, each staggering beneath the weight of mannequins portraying billionaires, hoisted on their shoulders.
The independent label, founded in Montreal in 2014 with Hannah Rose Dalton and gaining momentum in recent years, delivered an act of defiance and direct protest against the richest 1% of the planet, denouncing an unequal system — a stance carefully articulated by the designer in his statement of intent. Yet in France, another image from this show at Place de la République, set around the immense cast-iron statue of Marianne, is likely to linger: three muscular Black women striding forward in tight-fitting blue, white and red dresses, the last wearing a red veil over her hair. It was a powerful symbol just months ahead of the French presidential election, at a time when questions of identity and religion often dominate political debate.
Whilst the overall message is highly political, Matières Fécales’ Spring 2027 proposition is not confined to declarations. “I had a clear vision of staging the fashion show at Place de la République, a sacred place in the city for expressing opinions and celebrating togetherness. It is a place of revolution. I think it’s perfect that the first-ever fashion show at Place de la République is being organised by a group of immigrants like us; it symbolises the progressive future the city is working towards,” explains the designer in one of the longest notes ever written about a fashion show.
The extended note proved useful in keeping the audience patient before the late arrival of the show’s surprise star, Rihanna. Before that, Steven Raj Bhaskaran had set the scene around the colossal statue-fountain of Marianne by the Morice brothers.
A few minutes before the scheduled start, Rue du Faubourg du Temple served up an intriguing juxtaposition of bike couriers, Intersport customers, tourists, and the motley, colourful community of Matières Fécales devotees. And whilst editors and critics were present on Fashion Week’s opening day, it was the towering mohawks, gothic colossi, and dark lolitas who most visibly displayed their enthusiasm before and during the show.
Matières Fécales, commercially supported by the Dover Street Market Paris incubator, presented no fewer than 99 looks during this performance, arranged in three tableaux with contrasting moods and rhythms.
“Ninety-nine models of colour and ninety-nine looks by a designer of colour. The casting wasn’t just a creative choice; it reflects all the people I grew up with in social housing,” says the creative director. “A tribute to families of colour who are pursuing a dream of freedom. A message of hope for all immigrants who are unfairly targeted every day. An act of aspiration for all people of colour who are rarely given the opportunity to flourish.”
Thus, the first tableau, measured in tempo, honours those migrants who left everything behind in the hope of giving their children a better future. Echoing the designer’s own childhood — his mother left French Guiana for Canada — the proposal features sweeping dresses and monochrome ensembles. Beginning with plain white cotton pieces, the designs gradually gain substance. Tulle and linen add weight to the narrative, the garments acquiring structure — worn to captivating effect by Farida Khelfa. Remaining monochrome, the tailoring and body-skimming dresses move from black through carmine red — where the gowns turn silken — to lagoon blue, with dresses and blouses, raw-edged or patchworked, all characterised by transparency and lightness. The tone remains fairly classic at this first approach. The committed creative and his family close the tableau together, all dressed in white.
Then comes the time of rebellion and punk. The square fills with smoke and the models march with purpose to a staccato beat. Cropped bombers, thigh-high boots, shredded dresses, jeans with extreme washes and distressed cuts, a reworked tweed Bar jacket — both clothes and bodies are transformed, at times even brutalised. The cast of creatures thrills the scene, on stage and in the crowd, in a celebration of difference.
Beyond the eccentricity, there is also the introduction of pieces with stronger commercial potential, such as denim jackets with cross-shaped zips at the back, along with a series of sweatshirts and T-shirts — designs likely to appeal to customers of the department stores that stock the label.
Finally, the last tableau reveals the eccentric, dreamlike vein — somewhere between gothic and oneiric — that has fuelled Matières Fécales’ success. In recent years, the label has made its mark with looks for Lady Gaga on the Grammy Awards stage, and for Zendaya, styled by Law Roach, who wore a white winged-angel gown that caused a sensation during promotion for the film The Odyssey. More recently, it created bespoke wedding dresses for the union of model and artist Gabbriette and The 1975 frontman Matty Healy.
It was this expertise that Matières Fécales showcased. Set to a Nina Simone soundtrack, divas in extravagant hats inspired by West African cultures, wearing Louboutin shoes, preceded princesses in ultra-voluminous gowns. In immaculate white or in explosions of colour, Matières Fécales demonstrated its command of mixed techniques and volumes. Here it plays with lace, there with embroidery, and everywhere with feathers — a mastery that allows the brand to stand out in Paris amid a crowded Fashion Week.
Admittedly, politicised messaging is always a delicate exercise, one that can also work against the coherence of the fashion proposition or overshadow the work of the brand’s teams. Yet amid the chorus of collections calibrated to meet the supposed expectations of key markets, Matières Fécales asserts its uniqueness and, like Rick Owens (who was present at the show) or Vivienne Westwood before him, seems capable of rendering an initially very underground message universal. Faced with the prevailing silence of a world losing its bearings, is it not also the role of creatives to wield irreverence and dream to shift the lines?
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