Benét Matthias, a second-year textile student at Central Saint Martins, is working through a backlog of knitwear orders at his four-bedroom home in Hackney, East London. He did not start his studies this early, but the demand is high and he is working to his capacity.
“Most of my sales are from TikTok. “I ship all over the world, to America, the Netherlands, Spain, actually everywhere,” he says. “Customers are teenagers and people in their 20s, and most are women.”
Unlike typical knitwear designers, Matthias uses deconstructed techniques. “Staircases and things that look like they’re falling apart. “I create unconventional silhouettes and exaggerate the distressed look,” he explains. “It’s a slow craft.”
It’s no surprise that Matthias’ work is booming. From VogueThe January cover features Balenciaga catwalks and Tokyo street style; The restructured look is taking 2024 by storm. It consists of clothes that look unfinished. Think frayed edges, torn jeans, exposed seams and torn knitwear. It is hailed as a movement against the minimalist Scandi style trends that have dominated in recent years. Online platform Depop reported that searches for deconstructed knits were up 75% month on month. Many new designers use recycled materials. The more damaged something looks, the more deconstructed it becomes.
There will always be an undercurrent of DIY style and design in fashion, but the creators behind this movement are generating a huge following and interest. “There’s an appetite for a more unique, put-together look,” says Hannah Almassi, editor of fashion, beauty and shopping website Who What Wear UK.
Designer Conner Ives, known for his work with pop star Rihanna, creates deconstructed T-shirt dresses using vintage materials. Almassi says menswear designer Jawara Alleyne is another name to watch out for at London fashion week. Her punk-flecked pieces were worn by celebrities including Beyoncé last year. The DIY approach involves thrifting for high-quality, pre-loved clothing and turning them into decorative showpieces. Vogue‘s latest issue also focuses on sustainability, featuring designers like Torishéju Dumi, whose repurposed blazers are made using scraps of fabric salvaged from large wholesale warehouses.
Ives thinks this approach is a way to do something about sustainability issues in the fashion industry. “I love the thrill of finding a vintage graphic tee, and figuring out what we can do with it makes it even better. This ultimately means that each one is unique.
Matthias says he makes products that last, and the more damaged or holed they get, the more tattered they look: “My knitwear is handmade, so it takes a lot of time. People buy it to last a long time.”
Deconstructed clothing is the opposite of muted luxury (neutral, understated clothing that’s establishing itself as the dominant aesthetic of 2023), but experts say the two looks work side by side. “I would say this is less a movement against quiet luxury than the minimalist, super-clean look that is not for everyone,” says Almassi.
Vintage dealer and designer Sami Miro is a good example of someone who combines this aesthetic with high fashion and luxury, proving that it’s not “a style tribe.”
Molly Rooyakkers, a data analyst and market researcher who runs the Instagram account Style Analytics, agrees. “More than one major trend can exist simultaneously, and I see this deconstructed and distressed look as a rejection or rebellion against the more dominant minimalist, clean-girl, Scandi-style trends we see.”
It may be different from quiet luxury, but the price tag may be the same. A raw-edge Balenciaga denim jacket that evokes a sense of chaos? £1,550. Japanese label Sacai’s deconstructed layered neoprene minidress? On sale £583.
Unfinished edges and frayed edges are also styles we have seen before. They are part of the pared-back look championed by the Antwerp Six, a groundbreaking group of 1980s designers with global influence, including Ann Demeulemeester and Dries van Noten. Their creativity was shaped by social conditions such as increasing prosperity, social unrest, strikes, high unemployment, and the rise of HIV and AIDS.
Today’s designers also say that unbuttoning the clothes we wear is more than a trend, it’s an emotional response to what’s going on in society. “I hesitate to stand on a soapbox and lament the problems we all face,” Ives says. “So this approach felt like a way to do something about it. He’s making a statement.”
For 20-year-old Matthias, it’s a personal feeling. “I’ve been seeing this kind of style being framed as a trend lately, but I would describe my work as a reflection of myself. “It’s quite experimental and I think it shows individuality.”