At the WWD Men's Wear Summit last week, a bunch of industry hotshots got together to talk about menswear (and haters lmao) and broke down how to grow brands and live in the new retail arena, which is something that has been discussed a whole lot lately probably because money. The presentation that we care about the most was from Ami's Alexandre Mattiussi, but because we're persona non grata, we didn't actually go to the glorified handjob party. Thankfully, WWD recapped Mattiussi's conversation to save us the price of admission.
Mattiussi spent a few years at the biggest fashion houses before he branched out and started his own brand because he couldn't even afford the clothing he was designing for the likes of Dior and Givenchy. Ami launced in 2011 with the help of Mattiussi's friend Nicolas Santi-Weil who helped found The Kooples and is now Ami's CEO. The best part is that the Ami vision isn't some ornate, eloquent mission statement: "I try not to intellectualize it too much. When I think about my experience before, the way we were designing was sometimes not so right. It feels like the only thing that interests me is the way a guy is going to wear my clothes." That's a considerably authentic vision that relates direclty to his customer.
Season after season, Ami's collections are consistent, on brand and don't chase trends as hard as a lot of other brands out there. Not skewing too fashion or basic, Mattiussi's first runway show was a hit and for good reason. He doesn't plan on starting a women's line even though he casted a few women in the show, but instead is putting his efforts towards opening two Ami stores this year and expand his already enormous 300 stockist footprint. The honesty and transparency surround Ami and Mattiussi is something great to hear in an industry where misplaced bravado and hubris is a dime a dozen: "I have ideas, but I don't say I'm the best designer in the world. I don't say I'm going to revolutionize fashion. I just say I have ideas and I want to share them with as many people as I can."
