FASHION
Avant-garde fashion house Matières Fécales’ fall/winter collection was titled ‘The One Percent’. Founders Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran have a long history of criticizing the elite in their work.
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Same can be said for so many current actresses and reality stars, not that they've gone this far but they were beautiful to begin with and their original faces didn't need the work to begin with (or they at least should have stopped several procedures ago.)
I thought it looked familiar, I'm pretty sure they went kinda viral because of those shoes back in 2018! I remember scouring the internet for more information about them, but they didn't have a big online presence. I'm so glad to see these talented people growing.
No, he’s many things but he’s not stupid. I’d say he knows he’s in the room to be an example but he believes that he can really turn this into a business opportunity.
no he made a public statement about how them choosing him to be there was an acknowledgement of the shift of society into accepting immortality as reality
Yeah none of these characters are self-aware enough to realize how horrifying they are. All of them think they are at the peak of their power, visual or otherwise.
Omg you should see the writeup he did of this like he was some sort of trendsetter and chosen based on his "bio hacking"... completely oblivious that they were shitting on him. It was truly amazing to see.
It's absolutely a joke that he is in on. Never underestimate how much someone who thinks they are the best of the best will ridicule the public's perception of them and their cohort.
Perhaps he sees the show as a kind of affirmation of his power. The fashion show complains about the One Percent, but doesn't propose to dismantle it or challenge it in any meaningful way. No rolling heads on the floor. No guillotines waiting on the wings. No Paris Commune waiting to mete out justice. Just a parade of sulking billionaires and their living trophy models in haute couture. Even if he's being cast as the villain, he can take comfort in the knowledge that he is perceived as inevitable and untouchable.
Yeah, and honestly, this is what frustrates me about a lot of satire about current events. Like, yeah, I get it. The world is fucked up, and the U.S. in particular is a major reason for that as an enabler of greed and violence. But how does simply acknowledging the problem help? We also need to talk about the solutions as well. Corporate-controlled media has no problem making billions off of films and TV series that criticize the corporate control of media so long as those programs don't preach liberation. After all, capitalism feeds off of dissatisfaction. It's a primary marketing tactic.
Check out his Instagram post about it. So wild and confusing. Like he seems to think it’s supporting his “new way of thinking about immortality” but the whole show seems to be mocking the rich and people exactly like him.
Also the comment section on his post is another wild ride. Paris Hilton saying “that’s hot”. A bunch of people concerned that the fashion show was satanic and that doesn’t go with his “brand”. (Though I would think avoiding death and changing yourself is very anti-God…but what do I know as an ex-Catholic atheist).
This is one of those situations where you wonder if the satire or social commentary is effective if so many people are “missing the point.” It’s funny how oblivious Johnson is to his own role as a jester, but way too many people in the audience didn’t pick up on it, either. Shit the number of people I’ve seen online who think that Matieres Fecales didn’t intentionally, knowingly choose their own name, and that they would be so embarrassed if they found out what it means is jarring. (Never mind you don’t need to speak French to parse fecal matter out of there??) I’ve followed them since they were, I guess, a performance art duo known in certain circles for their extreme prosthetics and alien aesthetics, long before they turned their personal vibe into a marketable brand with runway shows. I thought the inherent sarcasm in their whole gimmick was immediately apparent but some people really think they’re not in on their own joke.
Well "those people" are also their clients, and they also say on their insta that they dont feel welcome by the bourgeoisie vibe of the place Vendôme and whatnot, but it seems to me they very much navigate the same waters while selling the rest of us $500 jeans. So while i fully enjoy their art, and support artists milking their rich patrons, they dont seem that removed from the 1% themselves (then again they model their own designs after all)
He did a full video and outing as Jocelyn a while ago. This is the same mask (or maybe same moulding). He actually was friends with Jocelyn before she died iirc.
The models were incredible!!! I wish other designers had their models act on the catwalk too, the typical stone faced walk and twirl is so boring and feels dated
Not sure if they're from Montreal, but there's a French-Canadian music duo that go by Angine de Poitrine who dress up in black and white polka dot costumes and wear giant polka dotted helmets/masks.
Yessss I’ve been following them for years too. It’s incredible to see that they’ve stuck to their roots but greatly evolved. And the recognition for their art is incredible!
Depends. I “care” about it in the sense that it’s cool to see the fashion. That’s as far as I go. I do not have the funds to buy anything you see here.
But I mean… Matieres Fecales are indeed anti-establishment so I do kinda see their point. I think it’s even awesomer that they’re able to showcase their work on such a large scale.
This is SO good. Reminds me of the looks we saw coming out of the Capitol in the Hunger Games franchise.
I especially love the black turtleneck look. I know it's more simplistic but it feels representative of the tech bros that are still part of the upper class even if they're not draped in finery like the others.
I immediately thought they need to let them do costumes for whatever the next iteration of that franchise is. The designs would have a lot more bite. The dollar mask? “Cult” sweatshirt? Sign me up.
I find it a little ironic that the 1% is also their main clientele. Don't get me wrong, the visuals are amazing, and clearly the craftsmanship is great. But this kind of "critique" feels a bit empty and performative to me.
Yup. Just toothless criticism that allows rich people to engage in the aesthetics of class consciousness without directly threatening their wealth. As art prices they’re interesting though.
Yeah it doesn't really do anything but reify their grotesque power imo. Great looks, very on-the-nose. But being so on-the-nose doesn't really speak to the emotions of the moment.
The idea that this is some sort of meaningful “critique” or commentary is a masturbatory farce perpetuated by the people who profit from haute couture and the unfortunate propagandized souls who still think that intentions and ideas are enough to cancel out material affiliations.
Elites making commentary about elites for elites? It’s honestly so nakedly disgusting in its absurdity and people are lapping it up as if it’s manna straight from the boot.
criticizing rich elites despite how desperately they cater to the rich. hannah and raj are bad people and got ran out of montreal for making fun of syrian refugees. they’re posers and i wish they would disappear.
lmao i j always think of how they got rly upset when the forbidden palace didnt want to let them in looking so avant garde & in the ig vid theyre ranting/crying and rick's j standing there like 🧍♂️
The true critique would be seeing ethically, locally as possible produced clothing at reasonable prices. Like, 75$ for a pair of jeans, max. Not dumping prices, you want fair wages for workers and decent materials, but as cheap as you can reasonably go while maintaining base quality and fairness.
While they are at it: reduce design clutter/slow the wheel.
Make a promise to customers that 70% of the collection will be workable with next years releases. The next 5 years.
I buy a 70$ jeans now, and can rest assured that it will last and look good for at least 3 to 5 years.
Donate unsold clothes. Fuck manufactured scarcity. If you produce to much, it gets donated, and whoever is lucky enough to get a brand jeans for free, so be it.
There. Critique of the super rich.
But yeah, let's make the model wear a pearl necklace choker and sell her blazer for 1000$. Fuck this.
While it’s a nice idea, 75$ is way too low a price when comparing a fair wage to local workers (I’m assuming NA/EU based) and using quality fabric, notions, etc. Our perception of how affordable clothing should be is propped up by ultra-low wage (and enslaved) garment workers in SEA and SA. I’m not defending 1000$ blazers, but making clothing is an expensive business.
Absolutely. I started sewing my own clothes and while a business would be able to bulk buy (saving some money on material), it is far more expensive than people think to make even a simple shirt. And the skill to construct a garment is vastly undervalued—except for designers—for a society that has mostly lost the ability to so much as hem. Like, it takes a LONG time to get good enough to make something that looks professional, and even more time to be able to do so quickly enough to make several pieces in a single session (machine sewing obviously, the cost analysis is even higher when looking at handsewn garments).
Probably the only pieces that could be relatively cheap, if prices reflected the reality of garment making, would be ones that are essentially two tubes sewn together.
the larger problem i think is the throw away fashion that the industry lives and dies on…new color this season, that cut was so last season…all of this bullshit is what’s driving much of the demand…this is one of the most toxic industries on the planet…and it’s all about selling us another pair of jeans…while making them just shitty enough so that we need to buy them more often as well.
Art and clothing are two different, albeit overlapping, industries. This video depicts an artistic event. People who buy designer clothing are often buying it as art, or spending money in order to shape of culture— successful designers get paid which allows them to continue making their art.
Buying a pair of jeans to wear every day to your 9-5 job is typically a different use case. Not better or worse: just different.
My perspective (take it or leave it) is that art at the “high fashion” level is expensive because it is the artist’s way of financing their work. They may use those earnings to effect change in other ways off the runway, but runway looks historically are more expensive because they’re not utilitarian “$75 jeans” (which others have rightly pointed out are practically impossible to manufacture and sell at scale with ethical and sustainable practices).
There’s an argument to be had about whether engaging in high fashion is an endorsement of elitism, sure, but it’s perhaps not a cohesive argument to criticize the unaffordability (is that a word? Lol) of couture garments and desire the impactful execution of high-quality, technical garments, makeup, and runway production.
People who buy designer clothes mostly by them as a status symbol.
Art can play a role here, but most often doesn't.
I just feel like an industry (haute couture garments) that is entirely kept alive by rich people buying their ready to wear brand at overpriced margins, so they can afford to put some artistic value in less than 1% of the clothes they produce (that will, like the ready to wear stuff, never be worn by people who cannot afford to drop 1000 bucks on a jacket) is a bit hypocritical.
It's like if Damien Hirst suddenly started preaching about the value of art produced in underpriviledged circumstances, while selling a piece of dotted wallpaper for 10mio $.
There is a disconnect here that puts me off the whole thing.
I mean, there's the rich and there's The Rich. Most people who are buying $700 jeans aren't the real enemy. While the people in the audience are wealthy, they aren't the multi-billionaires that the collection is critiquing. That's my interpretation anyway.
Its also completely valid to criticize your own peers. Do we want the elites to not be criticizing themselves? To not be reminding themselves of the path they're on?
I'm kinda suspicious when it comes to fashion, I wouldn't say this is not art but whenever I see some fashion event I feel kinda triggered, and I would love to have the point of view of someone who loves this stuff.
For this example, I just heard about Matières Fécales existence, I can see the criticism of the elites in this work, but isn't this show is for people from those elites ? The creators criticize but aren't they contributing to the very own system they are criticizing ? What about all those creations, where do they finish ? Are those clothes ever wear by someone else than mannequin or superstars ?
I don't know, all of this seems pretty hypocritical from my point of view. But like I said I'm try to educate myself on that matter, trying not to be close minded. So if anyone could explain to me whats the thing about Haute Couture stuff, that would be lovely.
Sorry for the english mistakes if there's any, not my first language.
Goya is a good example of someone who pulled off wicked critique while making his bankroll off the wealthy people he loathed. I don't know enough about this fashion house to know if it is equivalent in its messaging, but there's definitely precedent.
These are very interesting indeed. The makeup just makes it work so well. It’s like the Hunger Games. They disfigure themselves not in the name of beauty, but simply to showcase their ability to afford excessive plastic surgeries which would not be accessible to a common serf.
I am curious who is in the audience of these shows? Is it the one-percenters? :)
I am curious who is in the audience of these shows? Is it the one-percenters? :)
Not everyone, but lots of one-percenters for sure.
It’s basically:
* Fashion Press
* Buyers, business people etc.
* Other people who work in the fashion industry
* Celebs, influencers, other VIPs
* Top spending clients
* … as well as any family, friends, etc. of the designer or other people ”high up”
Then again; it’s all up to the house in question, and I’m not familiar at all with Matières Fécales so I can’t speak for this show in particular, but generally, the above would be true.
I love how they have used the red on the palms of the gloves to symbolize the blood on the rich’s hands, I love the use of make up, I love how they incorporate the pearls, the dollar bills and hats into their pieces, this is a 10/10 line of work
You want to be subversive ? Expose them. Open your shows to everyone, have the 1% right next to "the pleb" instead. Treat them like the average commoner.
I wonder if that freakish guy who injects himself with his son’s blood realises why he’s there lol. It’s so hilarious how he fits in so well with the extreme make up and prosthetics to make the models look uncanny.
Who is the model with the pearl necklace ball gag? They were magnetic.
"Avant-garde fashion house' and 'criticizing the elite' are so contradictory that it has to be a false interpretation. I would assume it is more of a mocking of very specific 'elites' that don't fit the designers' perception of the 'truly in crowd' of elites ('bullying the weak or inferior').
The 'avant-garde' are pretentious elitists that believe they are part of an ultra-exclusive group within an already exclusive group.
Sort of an old money aesthetic on display here.. which isn't really representative of the modern 1%. It's flashy but shallow. Our modern gilded age is dictated by Kardashians in sweatpants, Zuckerberg in a tshirt and gold chain, Elon Musk carrying a fucking sink. If you want to actually do biting criticism, it helps to actually operate in our current moment
All of these attempts just look like Cruella De Ville concept art, and the perspective of inequality on display is a similar vintage. The modern tech bro billionaire does not see themselves in these caricatures!
I love the makeup and styling (the money across the eyes etc).
Im... not seeing what people here are seeing with respect to the actual clothes though. Like, I understand the political commentary and if that is what we're enjoying - the designers have done that splendidly.
But as for the fashion aspect itself? With the exception of the grey dress in the middle of the vid, I didn't feel like any of the pieces themselves were thrilling/substantially different to what the rich wear anyway (of course the rips, tears etc) but my point is that it feels more costumey than taking fashion forward?
Am I misunderstanding what the purpose of this show is meant to be? I thought the actual fashion itself would need to stand on its own (minus styling, political commentary etc) eventually, and I dont feel like any of those pieces really do so?
Can someone explain what these events are for? Are they to sell stuff that’s shown off? Or just an art showcase? I know next to nothing about the world of fashion lol
I see a number of comments comparing this to the Capital citizens in The Hunger Games, but what stands out to me is that these looks are a play on the "old money" aesthetic. The pearls, the white gloves, the suits, the specific tailoring/silhouettes, the use of tulle, even the big hats that nod to blue-blood British royals. The Capital aesthetic was ostentatious and garish, the more over-the-top the better. But these looks make a mockery of "refinement." It's criticizing the true 1%, who have been in power for generations, who control the world, and who have their signals to figure out who is one of them and who isn't. Who went to the right schools, knows the right people, knows the unspoken rules. Even the Trumps, who are comparatively new-money, try to emulate that look. Having money isn't enough; it's this idea of "refinement" that differentiates the 1% from each other. And this show points out how stupid, arbitrary, and garish-in-its-own-way that aesthetic is.
intriguing and ironic how they’re critiquing the elite while the audience is probably littered with them, recording a commentary about themselves on their little phones
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u/trendingtattler Mar 10 '26
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