In Focus: Mat Maitland

For Spring/Summer 2020 Tom Wood collaborated with the renowned London-based collage artist Mat Maitland on creating exclusive prints for women’s hoodies and t-shirts. Best known for his surrealist-pop images and films, Mat Maitland’s work has been featured in magazines including Self Service, Interview, Vogue Japan and Vanity Fair, and he has created images, videos and campaigns for artists such as Beck, Prince, Lana Del Rey, Elton John and Mark Ronson.

Tom Wood asked Mat Maitland to introduce us to his work in his own words.

Who is Mat?
I am a visual artist working in fashion and a creative director working in music.

How has your career evolved?
I started my career as an art director working in music, first at WEA in London and then as partner at Big Active Design where we are known for our music projects for artists such as Michael Jackson, Lana Del Rey, Elton John and Goldfrapp. Alongside this I started to evolve a personal body of work as an image maker which I have focused more towards fashion rather than music, creating images and films for Kenzo, Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Self Service, Dazed Beauty and V Magazine amongst others.

Could you tell us a bit about the inspiration behind the prints and process behind the development and the collaboration?
I am often creating things for myself, purely personal images and these formed the basis of the three pieces I made for Tom Wood. The images are loosely based on a selection of Debbie Harry songs Tom Wood had been using for inspiration for their collection and I worked closely with the creative team to evolve these, introducing more specific themes to echo the titles – for example ‘Call Me’ and the use of a telephone dial.

Where do you get your inspiration from?
My work as an artist is inspired by a wide array of things from films, art, fashion – I try to look for inspiration away from the present day which I think can become a little bit too generic as everyone is often doing the same things. Inspiration is also quite an illusive thing as your imagination often melds multiple things together from unexpected places or memories. For my music work the inspiration is always taken from the music in the first instance before dreaming up a concept to match this.

“Inspiration is also quite an illusive thing as your imagination often melds multiple things together from unexpected places or memories”

What are you working on right now?
A new album by LaRoux, where we are creating a one-off magazine to sit alongside the album. I am also creating some images for the next issue of Self Service magazine.

What does your working day look like?
Often I’ll be juggling various music projects with the team at Big Active while also trying to develop new work away from commercial briefs. Each day is different really, which keeps things fresh. I work between the design studio in Kings Cross and my home studio in Hampstead, London.

What is your favourite book?
Fav art book – ‘Eiko by Eiko – Eiko Ishioka’
Fav biography – The Kid Stays In the Picture by Robert Evans

What is your favorite app?
Instagram

Website – www.matmaitland.com
Instagram – @matmaitland

Spring/Summer 2020 Collection

Location and currency

Language

Order summary

Outerwear

HomeMenswearOuterwear

Ziggy Jacket Earthy Marble

Trucker Jacket Beach Worn

Mars Jacket Pistol Black