I met Alexandre in 2013 when he sauntered into studio Montmartre wearing his iconic beanie, and right then, I knew we’d become good friends. Studio Montmartre, one of the most charming studios of the city, nestled above the iconic Silencio club, was a place where I spent countless hours photographing and soaking in inspiration. Between shoots, I’d often find myself on the balconies, savoring unlimited coffees and feeling like I could conquer the world. It was in this vibrant atmosphere that our friendship began to blossom. And now, years later, as dsection and AMI have grown side by side, it only feels natural to feature Alexandre in this edition, celebrating our parallel journeys in the world of creativity and fashion. Alexandre Mattiussi, the mastermind behind the Parisian label AMI, marches to the beat of his own drum. Mattiussi honed his craft at the prestigious Duperré fashion school. After graduation, he apprenticed under the giants – Dior Homme, Marc Jacobs, Givenchy – absorbing the secrets of luxury fashion like a sponge. But by 2011, a different dream simmered within him. This vision took shape as AMI, a label that shattered the mold. Mattiussi’s vision? “Real clothes for real people.” AMI embodies Parisian cool – effortless chic with a playful wink. The collections, for both men and women, are known for their clean lines, luxurious fabrics, and timeless pieces that effortlessly mix and match. Perfectly tailored suits dancing alongside playful heart motifs, or luxurious knitwear with a relaxed, nonchalant vibe. AMI is for those who appreciate understated elegance, a touch of that je ne sais quoi that whispers “Paris.” And proudly, we’ve witnessed the brand’s growth, seeing more and more individuals eager to be part of this remarkable journey. Despite the ever-changing madness of the fashion world, Alexandre remains the same lovely person we met many years ago, proving that true authenticity withstands the test of time.
interview by PAULO MEIXEDO
photographer GUILLAUME ROSSI
make up RUBEN MASOLIVER
hair ANDREA IDINI
hotographer assistant FLORENT MARTI and THIBAULT APRETHNA
produced by MAISON YAUNO
“Believe in yourself… the most important thing is really to keep an eye on who you are and try to do everything you have and give your best in what you want to achieve.“
PAULO MEIXEDO: Alright, mon ami Alexandre! It feels like just yesterday when DSECTION was merely a dream scribbled on a beat-up laptop in a sun-drenched Lisbon coffee shop. Back then, you were the ultimate dreamer, the one who transformed a vision into AMI, this incredible brand that skyrocketed faster than a pastel de nata disappears at a weekend market. DSECTION was the wide-eyed newbie, stumbling around fashion week, while AMI was the cool kid with a twinkle in its eye. Remember when we first roped you in for a shoot? Anyway, enough reminiscing! Before we delve into the nitty-gritty of fashion, let’s talk about dreams. “Are you more of a full-blown, head-in-the-clouds dreamer, or more of a ‘grounded with a hint of whimsy’ kind of guy?”
ALEXANDRE MATTIUSSI: “Am I a Dreamer? Of course, I am. What kind of Dreamer am I? I don’t know how to describe it. I just feel like… I dream, you know? As someone who sleeps, when I sleep at night, I’m the kind of person who remembers all the dreams I had at night. Actually, what’s always fun is that I always remember the dreams I had. I work a lot at night. So, for example, when I say I work at night, it’s because I dream of ideas when I sleep. So, I have a notebook near my bed, and I have my phone that I use, and I have many notes that I read in the morning, which I use to write at night. Sometimes, it’s very… How do you say in English? It’s like automatic writing, you know? And every day, when I arrive at the office, I always share my nighttime ideas, which is a funny thing, because some of them are good, some are stupid, but most of the time it turns out that the ideas that came at the moment I slept are quite smart, you know what I mean? I’m an optimistic person, so all the dreams I have are about dreaming big, dreaming of beautiful things and beautiful places with beautiful people. So, beautiful dreams.”
PM: Your vivid description of chasing ideas from your dreams almost makes me want to keep a notepad under my pillow too! But let’s steer clear of dreamy fashion trends for a moment and dive into a different kind of chic: your approach to creativity amidst the chaos of trend-hopping! The fashion world can be a bit, well, obsessed with trends. How do you keep that dreamer’s spirit alive when deadlines loom and the next ‘it’ item changes faster than a Parisian pigeon nabs a croissant?”
AM: “I don’t see the fashion industry as something I have to follow or that I have to connect to in a certain way. So, I feel very independent in terms of how I deal with my things every day. We are a company now with many people. We are fantastic people around me who help me think, work, and, you know, follow what we’re doing. So, I feel like if I have a natural energy to continue whatever happens around us. And when I say whatever happens around us, I mean trends and things like that, I feel like if AMI was built with a very specific idea of really keeping things easy, real, optimistic, a little pragmatic. It’s all about the clothes we like to wear. It’s about the fabrics and colors we love. So, sometimes, it happens that it becomes a trend or becomes part of a trend, but that’s very not my goal, at the beginning of the things I do. But I feel like if, you know, the thing is, I’m living my dream. So, when I say that, I mean that waking up every day and having this incredible opportunity to do what I love most in life is to create and produce and make things, you know, from dream to reality. Even if the dream is a bit cool and easy and simple, sometimes it’s just about a beautiful outfit and just a bit of clothing or collaborating with a photographer we love or a talent we like or, you know, things are very casual. I always said that I don’t think we make people dream because I don’t think fashion should be a dream, you know, you can create a desire, which is very different, desiring something or someone is very different from dreaming about it, and I think sometimes fashion makes everything very exclusive in that way, and you know, that’s why maybe I’ve heard some of the designers who are making and creating dreams, but I think it’s very pretentious, and I feel that, you know, it’s really about the feeling we want to share with someone. I was recently asked on the radio, ‘Do you make people dream?’, and I’m very, maybe too humble for that, maybe it’s hard for me to say this, but I prefer that people dream about having a beautiful life, being healthy, going to a beautiful place to spend some hours with someone, you know, dreaming for me is about something more immaterial.
PM: Quite unique and refreshing. It’s like you’re dancing to the beat of your own drum, which is admirable in an industry often dictated by trends. Now, let’s explore the depths of your creativity. Creatives find inspiration in the strangest places. Where’s your personal dreamscape hidden? Is it a bustling Parisian street, a dusty record store filled with forgotten melodies, or something even more unexpected?
AM: So, if I’m looking out the window right now, I have, like, actually, I have very bad eyesight, but I see from afar a guy with an orange color, like, and I can say that this orange color is a beautiful color. So that sticks in my mind, and maybe in two days I’ll remember it as a souvenir, and maybe I, like, spontaneously want, you know, to take that idea for the collection. So, inspiration is really about everything, anywhere. Do you know the movie that won the Oscars last year? ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ with Michelle Yeoh? So it’s really about… It’s a miracle. So, I’m really interested, you know, in the process of being creative, and you know better than I do, it’s really a muscle, you just keep, you know, working on it. It’s very natural because it’s part of my DNA. Being creative means, you know, looking at the world with a special eye, you know, that can make everything be an inspiration to be translated into the choice of music, the choice of fabric, the combinations of both things together. I still believe in people because it’s not just about me, you know, it’s really about teamwork, you know. I’m a really optimistic person, you know, I believe in the genius of human beings and in their sensitivity, even if it’s a very tough time, and it always has been, you know, but I feel that there’s a true, authentic, and sincere expression of true emotions all over the world, so yeah, you have to be very clever.”
PM: It’s amazing how you find inspiration in the smallest details of life, like that orange color catching your eye. It’s like you have this innate ability to turn the ordinary into something extraordinary. Shifting gears a bit… I’m curious about how your designs play into this. You mentioned that being creative is part of your DNA, and I can see how that translates into your clothing. We all know AMI clothes are killer, but beyond looking fly, let’s talk about feeling fly. How do your designs help people tap into their confidence and chase those crazy, beautiful dreams?”
AM: The evolution of what we were is kind of amazing because, you know, even in my wildest dreams, because that’s the theme of the interview, it was…
I couldn’t imagine being here today, being, you know, at the center of this story, and this story is not just, as you say, not just my story, no, it’s the story of many people, and because, from the beginning, my goal with AMI was really to dress people and make people happy with the clothes that I designed, and yet, that’s still the same goal for me. I’m still very excited and happy to see this all over the world, because it’s great to see people, having AMI in their own clothes, intimately, and that’s very special, and I’m very grateful for that, because to me fashion is all about that, it’s about trying to make people feel comfortable, happy, beautiful, sexy, confident, and that’s the only reason why I do this job, is to share that kind of, you know, values.”
“I dream of ideas when I sleep… some of them are good, some are stupid, but most of the time it turns out that the ideas that came at the moment I slept are quite smart.“
PM: Humble beginnings to now being a global phenomenon, it’s clear that your passion for making people feel good through fashion has remained unwavering. I’m curious, though, as you reflect on this journey, looking back, what accomplishment makes you smile the biggest, knowing it arose from a wild, impossible dream you once held?”
AM: No, not really, because, you know, I just don’t look back, and I’m not such a nostalgic person, but it’s the people outside that make me realize that I’m not pretentious, I don’t know what I’m saying, it’s just, again, maybe I’m very humble about it, but for me, you know, it’s hard work, it’s every day, it’s a journey, it’s life, you know, it’s my life, and that’s what I do, for now, almost 14 years, 13 years, and I just move forward and look back, and just think about what will be next, and it’s really a day-to-day process, and fashion is very demanding for that because we just, you know, we design collections every 3 months, 4 months, a new collection emerges, and you always have to bring new things and new ideas, but I feel very comfortable with this idea because the brand is evolving with myself, I’m evolving with the brand, and I’m also evolving with society, in a way, you know, because I can still be a cultural thing, you know, a part of the image of society, a part of the image of people, and yeah, we just follow the time.”
PM: Alright, Monsieur Mattiussi, speaking of the future, dream collaboration time! If you could team up with anyone, absolutely anyone, who would it be and why?”
AM: Hmm, I feel like I wouldn’t collaborate with any other brand anymore, because I just feel not, I don’t want to say cool, because it’s not about being cool or not, but relevant, more, I just feel that I’d rather collaborate with people, with creative minds, with people who come from different fields or industries, like cinema, films, music, and artists, more than designer or clothing thing. We’ve done that, and we’ve done it very well, and I’m very proud and happy of the collaborations we’ve done in the past, but I feel something more, yes, confidential and sensitive, more about a conversation with someone that really, you know, makes me think and feel differently about the things we work on together.”
PM: Last question, and it’s a biggie: what message do you have for our readers, the dreamers who find solace and inspiration in the world of fashion? Hit us with your best shot of dreamy wisdom!”
AM: I’m already too old to give any piece of advice, you know, it seems like, you know, every generation makes their decisions, you know, I feel like when I was younger, every piece of advice I received wasn’t the piece of advice I wanted to receive. I feel like we’re all so different at different stages of life, and I feel like I was very much driven by my own intuition, I was really pursuing my dream, even if it was impossible to name or describe it, I was really on my own path, trying to find the right position to feel happy and good and confident and strong, even if it wasn’t always easy to do, but it’s my destiny, and I believe the only advice I can give and share with anyone is, and this will sound very dramatically and simply, but believe in yourself, because the most important thing is really to keep an eye on who you are and try to do everything you have and give your best in what you want to achieve, so it’s more of a therapist type of advice, work with yourself, work with your strengths, believe in yourself, and be amazed by the best people on Earth, and a good energy and a very optimistic energy, I don’t believe in something, because I didn’t do it for myself, because I was lucky to have a kind of balanced psychology, so I can’t say it was easy, but I felt very excited in a direction that was mine and that was the best for me. I don’t mean I can handle the pressure, because there is pressure, and the pressure definitely doesn’t come from the outside, you know? The pressure that I put on myself is really me with myself and me with my team and Ami, like how you deal as a father in a family, you have the responsibility to make things happen in a very good way, it’s like a matter of education, it’s like a matter of being humble and being good with yourself, having good habits, reading, going to the cinema, listening to music, meeting new people, being curious about life, those things that make me feel like a good person, and that’s what I’m proud of, it’s one of my best victories, of still being the same guy since the beginning, I’m still the same son of my mother, the same brother of my brother, the same best friend of my friends, and the same boyfriend of my boyfriend, you know what I mean? I am me, and that’s a kind of act of resistance, because this world is made to make us feel very excited and very competitive. When I’m looking at the Met Gala yesterday, you can feel the competition… You know, this kind of event, I dreamed of this kind of event, I’m looking at it, I observe it more like a moment in time, history, about pop culture, but I don’t feel happiness, I don’t feel joy, I don’t feel that. I just feel a very strange idea of people, all about image, at a level that is higher than ever, because social media makes everything kind of frantic and crazy. I just want to communicate something more natural, in terms of emotions, in terms of time and process and development, and I think we’re not made to produce so many things, to show and share so many photos and intimacy. I believe in that kind of moment for myself and for the brand, to maintain a very good level of quality, of emotions, of contact with human beings, of service, of recognition, of elegance, of satisfaction. We don’t say believe in your nightmares. So, when we say believe in your dreams, that comes from a very generous and optimistic vision of what could be next, and I am very optimistic, and I always want to say that the best is yet to come. That’s incredible.
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