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Black Clothing was born out of an old fashioned, rugged individualist,
“can do!” attitude that marks every waking action of the
Wignall brothers, who for better or worse, pirate through life with
a balance of insanity and/or clarity that lands them on their feet with
a cat-falling-off-the-roof kind of last minute agility. Matte Black
was started in 2005 and operated by the brothers who with no formal
training decided to design a 40 piece cut and sew line. Where experience
was lacking in technical training, it was more than made up for in life
experience. Paul Wignall, in 2000, with no prior model history, was
booked by Mario Testino and Tom Ford as the face of Gucci. This was
followed by major campaigns and fashion shows from almost every big
designer in the world. These friends and experiences had a huge influence
on Paul adding clarity to his already intuitive instincts for what makes
good fashion. They have played a huge part in Matte Black’s growth
as friends like Proenza Schouler have been there every step of the way
giving critical advice on the why’s, where’s, and how much's
of producing a clothing line.
Matte Black is run out of Southern California where they stand in stark contrast to the slews of sport brands they are surrounded by. Their palates are dark and subtle, their designs are masculine and utilitarian, sophisticated and naïve. From their converted 2 car garage office in Long Beach, older brother Matt takes breaks from his busy photography schedule to help shape the aesthetic of the company. When not helping Matte Black he is the fulltime photographer for bands such as Cold War Kids from Long Beach, and Mando Diao from Sweden. He travels back and forth between Costa Rica, Sweden, New York and Africa shooting landscape, music, architecture, and most recently documenting the need for humanitarian aid in Malawi. Matt and Paul regularly work together on shoots as a photographer/stylist team, and help to shape the image of the artists they work with, most notably the Cold War Kids whose recent success has not been hurt by Matt engineering all of their singles for USA and UK and photographing for various album covers, in turn Matte Black regularly uses Matt Maust's designs for their outstanding shirt graphics. Matte Black is family owned, funded and operated save for their Russian director of operations Inessa Zherebnenko who patiently deals with everything thrown her way, and is the nuts and bolts of day to day life at Matte Black.
For further information, please contact: matthew@matteblackclothing.com
Derelicte Showroom, Cooper Bldg. Los Angeles 213-627-2087
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