THE FRONT ROW

British-born Rav Matharu is the first designer of South Asian descent to establish a store on London’s famed Saville Row. The historic moment comes a decade after he founded his independent label, clothsurgeon, which melds modern streetwear with bespoke tailoring. With a foundation steeped in upcycling and collaborative processes, the creative director looks back at the moments leading up to this milestone

- TANYA MEHTA

A former footballer for Leeds United, Rav Matharu might have traded in his cleats to pursue his love for fashion, but its influence has set the tone for his design language. “Football is where my obsession for products began, I was always obsessed with football boots, this gradually progressed into trainers and tracksuits. I’ve always been excited about how we would style our kits for the Away games and what socks we would wear. After returning home from school, I’d spend hours hunched over my computer, sifting through pages on eBay, browsing vintage starter jackets, old-school Jordan’s, I was fascinated with vintage Americana. I was studying it subconsciously under the pretext of looking for a good bargain, like a kid in a candy shop.”

After departing from a potential career in football at the age of 21, Matharu graduated from the Leeds College of Art and Design with a first-class degree in BA Fashion and Technology. He went on to become the head designer at bespoke jacket designer brand, House of Billiam where he mastered his tailoring skills before launching his label. Alluding to its moniker, the designer has always possessed a razor-sharp focus when it came to garment construction and reconstruction, imbibing British suiting, Japanese Wabi-Sabi, and 80s sportswear into his iteration of streetwear.

REDEFINING STREETWEAR