Follow the rainbow fashion road

Follow the rainbow fashion road
Image: One of Matcho Suba's designs. (Image supplied by Matcho Suba)

FOR Matcho Suba, flying both the rainbow flag and and that of his eponymous fashion label in New York City recently was a dream come true.

Since he founded Matcho Suba three years ago, the Melbourne-based designer has been driven by a determination and motivation for success along with a tendency to buck the status-quo. It’s what led him to be in New York City for the second annual Rainbow Fashion Week, which took place in June during the lead-up to New York Pride — one of the world’s largest celebrations on the progression of LGBTI rights and culture.

“It’s one of the biggest events for my career and especially my label, so for the brand and collection to be included in one of the largest GLBTI fashion events in the world is immeasurably exciting,” Suba said.

Rainbow Fashion Week is a giant leap forward for the recognition of the work by not-too-often spoken of LGBTI designers that comprise the fashion industry.

Up until 2014, no such event had existed that so proudly, so boldly and so eminently drove LGBTI culture and its stake in fashion and design right into the heart of the global industry.

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Matcho Suba represented Australia at the recent Rainbow Fashion Week in NYC.

Designers from all over the world descended on New York City for their slice of the action alongside, if last year was anything to go by, its projected 25,000 LGBTI and LGBTI-friendly attendees around the city.

This year, Australia was represented through two designers: Matcho Suba and fellow designer Elke Doust, whose designs made its way to the runway for the label Tettman Doust.

Suba’s collection for the runway received its inception in New York almost a year ago on the designer’s first trip to the city. He said the magic and left-of-centre nature of the city’s famed Musuem of Modern Art spurred him on, inspired particularly by the refreshing take on the world that a lot of the musuem’s artwork evokes. 

“New York is one of my favourite places on earth,” Suba said.

“I get inspired everywhere I go and that city was no different. Its tall buildings, massive levels of acceptance for anyone and anything and the countless secrets you can find down any street are like the things a designer’s dreams are made of.”

One thing to note about the work of Suba is its uniqueness. Using a multitude of fabrics largely unseen, as well as textures, colours, silhouettes and other elements of variation from the norm, combined with the garment construction and establishment, the work of Suba is as remarkable as it is memorable.

“I am hoping to create a new audience from my brand and gain some valuable insight into the American market,” he said.

“I also want to show the world what Australian designers can do, meet new people and be proud of who I am and what I have accomplished personally as well as what we have accomplished as a community.”

James Banham is the editor of THE F, a lifestyle and fashion website. Visit www.the-f.com.au. You can also follow him on Instagram and Twitter.

Some of Matcho Suba's designs. (Image supplied by Matcho Suba)
Some of Matcho Suba’s designs. (Image supplied by Matcho Suba)
One of Matcho Suba's designs. (Image supplied by Matcho Suba)
One of Matcho Suba’s designs. (Image supplied by Matcho Suba)
One of Matcho Suba's designs. (Image supplied by Matcho Suba)
One of Matcho Suba’s designs. (Image supplied by Matcho Suba)

**This article was first published in the August edition of the Star Observer, which is available to read in digital flip-book format. To obtain a physical copy, click here to find out where you can grab one in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and select regional/coastal areas.

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