Industrial Revolution

Matthew Williams’s new brand, Alyx, brings a newly subversive edge to luxury fashion. But the real coup? The brand’s sense of community.

- OLIVIA SINGER

If you were to picture a family-run, sustainably minded fashion business, Alyx mightn’t be the first to come to mind. A streetwear-inflected take on industrial aesthetics, complete with fetishistic hardware and nylon chest-rigs, Matthew Williams’s cult brand has all the signifiers of subcultural cool. And he, dressed in leathers, sutured with piercings and covered in tattoos, surrounded by fans and friends from the Hadids to Skepta, appears its perfect ambassador. But Matthew exists worlds away from icy impenetrability, and through his brand – named after his eldest daughter with wife and business partner Jennifer – he’s built a community-oriented business that’s determinedly inclusive.

“I come from streetwear, and that’s what streetwear is: a place where you gravitate towards a like-minded group of people,” says the softly spoken and sweet-natured designer. Matthew’s career has been built on that collective spirit, and alongside some impressive names.

Raised in California, Matthew grew up embedded in skate culture, and by his late teens had met designer Keith Richardson of Corpus (an American label with a grunge-infused take on preppy Americana), dropped out of school and started working as the brand’s production manager by day and DJing by night. It wasn’t long before his stylist friends in the music industry started asking him to make custom pieces for their clients. His first big hit? The sound-reactive light-up jacket Kanye West wore at the 2008 Grammys – its success meant that when Kanye decided to launch his first fashion brand, Pastelle, it was Matthew he enlisted to set up a sample studio.