Matthew Needham
Matthew Needham is a multi-award-winning British/Czech designer and artist known for his approach to upcycling and contributions towards sustainability within the British fashion industry.
As a graduate of the eponymous MA Fashion course at Central Saint Martins, Needham’s work reflects fashion’s yearning for radical ideas, as he champions the use of unorthodox materials that are both innovative and thought provoking. Utilising fly tipped waste and materials salvaged from luxury fashion houses are inherent within Matthew’s process, often working with materials some would deem as 'unusable' through his unique method of storytelling. From dressing environmental advocates including Emma Watson, to working closely with the global movement that is Fashion Revolution, he is questioning the relationship we have with our clothing and the influence it can have on our evolution.
Matthew Needham Studio combines materials, experience, and community to create works that are both educational and conscious, ultimately inspiring a more symbiotic approach to living our human lives in parallel with the planet. It is the brainchild of designer and artist Matthew Needham, who is known for his approach to upcycling and contributions to sustainability within the British fashion industry.
"Matthew Needham said: “Clothes are artefacts of our existence and placing them in public spaces allows for the viewer to interact and view them as more than their material value. It invites the audience to reflect on their own relationship with what they wear and to reconnect with the role they play in the lifecycle of a garment; from how it is made to what happens to it once it is discarded. Ultimately, the clothes become a medium to communicate real issues faced by our planet and humanity.”
"Orsola de Castro, founder of Fashion Revolution said: “Matthew Needham’s clothes have always spoken to me, sometimes like a whispered secret and other times like a loud bang, and it’s because I can see through them. Clothes made the way he makes them, very often from found materials, always with a powerful intimate connection, and never without a palpable attention to detail, are about the future that we want to see, and the fashion industry we want to remodel for future generations.”
