Connecting Clothing and Community with MATTER

The time for my next tour is fast approaching, which has kick started a quest for comfort before I get on the road. This time we’re sticking to Europe; unlike our last tour in Australia where the weather is pretty much guaranteed, I’ve been on the hunt for something sustainable that can be versatile to weather as well as comfortable for multiple forms of travel (hooray for trains) and somewhat classy.

Luckily for me I found MATTER.

If you’ve been in the ethical living blogosphere for a while you’ve undoubtedly seen these pants pop up from time to time and it can leave you wondering if they’re worth the hype. And you know what, I think they totally are.

Their pants are made with functionality, fun and comfort in mind. They use fabrics like crepe silk or organic cotton, which are printed, dyed and sewn by hand, and their organic cotton line are also dyed with azo free dyes. They choose their supply chain partners by using a criteria that focuses on product integrity, community integration and good business practice, and they personally visit each partner to focus on building long term relationships. They strongly value a transparent supply chain: artisans develop unique, limited edition, heritage-based fabrics that become the raw materials for each collection, garments are then produced and finished in a fair factory that holds fast to international compliance standards and treats its workers well. The design to product cycle is 6 months for each item, incorporating natural time cycles of printing and weaving and leaving extra time to take into account serendipities of weather, festivities, and harvest cycles. Fashion that is truly created slow.

MATTER want to see rural craft thrive, so work to build a network that helps artisans access the global market with products that can stand alone due to their quality and beautiful design. They rely strongly on the knowledge and active input of their artisans to influence design, creating a collaborative design approach based on dialogue. Their dream is to make textile artisanship mainstream, and so their motto, ‘pants to see the world in’, becomes a double meaning. They are effortlessly comfortable and perfect for travel, so you can literally go see the world in them, but you can also see the world through looking at MATTER’s pants. Every pair contains a whole world rich with individual stories, histories and expertise; each print hails from existing heritage motifs tied to a place, time and cultural story, and each piece is a product of collaboration and tradition, carrying the marks of the many who created it.

The MATTER model is trans-seasonal, containing a fixed number of styles and adding variety through fabrics or prints used. They also do away with traditional sizing models, carrying two sizes with four different buttons at the waist, meaning these pants can be easily adjusted in a variety of ways to account for how our bodies are constantly growing and changing, keeping the fit feeling good and you feeling good.

I’m wearing a pair of The Classic Wideleg in Iching Jade Pearl, and I love them. Aside from the wonderful sustainability and ethics at MATTER’s core, their designs are just plain great. Comfort and style combine effortlessly in these trousers, making them perfect for touring through multiple cities and climates with ease. They can be easily paired with just about any basic top (here I’m wearing them with a piece from P.i.C’s capsule wardrobe), as well as working well with trainers, sandals, heels or… just about anything else really. These have become my go to pants for my touring schedule, that flexible waist fitting is going to come in very handy when sitting on trains for hours at a time. I’m so glad to have found this company when I did, I think it’s time to pop my pants on and go see the world.

You can shop more of MATTER’s collection here.

Until next time, stay magic y’all.

Post created in collaboration with MATTER