For the 23-piece exclusive capsule, The Elder Statesman reimagine their favourite archival pieces including The Flower Rays which are a nod to Greg Chait’s grandmother, Thelma Chait. Thelma was a prolific artist whose work and writings continue to inspire The Elder Statesman collections.
Bailey Hunter, Creative Director of The Elder Statesman:
“This collection is all made with the same singular yarn which was transformed through different processes and passed through many hands. I really like the simple idea of taking one amazing yarn and giving it many lives in 1 collection – hand-loomed stripes, intarsia, and hand tie-dye. Quality and craftsmanship are the core of our brand – we aren’t following trends or putting out extensive categories. We are working organically and focusing on the craft and materials, and I think that is very important when the world can be quite fickle.”
The collections launch online at www.matchesfashion.com 1st December 2021. To celebrate the launch MATCHESFASHION speaks exclusively to Bailey Hunter to discuss the inspiration behind the collection, the brands environmentally responsible practices and life in Los Angeles. Full interview available upon request.
Additionally, The Elder Statesman collaborated with New Yorker and style anthropologist, Mordechai Rubinstein, also known on Instagram as @mistermort, for their Autumn/Winter 2021 capsule collection. Mordechai is a NY personality who documents people with exceptional personal style and is fascinated by uniforms, subcultures, and character studies. Most of the pieces from the collection were nods to looks captured by Mordechai in his book, Dead Style: A Long Strange Trip Into the Magical World of Tie Dye. Over the course of a few months, Mordechai shared references with the The Elder Statesman Creative team and the collection was born over many text messages and design meetings via Zoom.
Bailey Hunter, Creative Director of The Elder Statesman:
“I bought Mordechai’s book, Dead Style, as a source of inspiration. It’s funny because the book shows Deadhead culture and how it has influenced fashion in many ways, but what really resonated with me was the overall do-it-yourself, personalized approach to clothes – people who add patches, darn holes in their sweaters and draw on their clothes. We referenced many of the looks in Mordechai’s book in the collection – some favourites are the patchwork tie dye, crocheted mushrooms, and the psychedelic pants that feature some of my son’s drawings. We became good friends and I think we share an affinity for finding people with real personal style – anything from a retired history teacher at a Dead show, a NY Sanitation worker in a Yankees fitted or a chic old lady walking her dog on Park Ave.”
Damien Paul, Head of Menswear at MATCHESFASHION:
‘MATCHESFASHION have been working as partners with The Elder Statesman for several seasons and we are delighted to extend that we are able to offer our customers this capsule collection with style anthropologist Mordechai Rubenstein. We love his psychedelic designs which we know will resonate with our customer. The collection offers beautifully crafted colourful cashmere that is perfect for the changing seasons ahead.’