The Tamesis
“I want to make clothes that are reliable. Clothes that I can wear, clothes that my friends can wear too. It’s very simple,” Alexandre Mattiussi said exclusively ahead of tonight’s Ami show. The truth about this scoop, however, is that it’s nothing new: Just as the founder calls each new collection “my favorite,” Mattiussi has been preaching the message of “simple clothes for real people” since launching Ami’s first collection in 2011.
Tonight’s show is a 15th anniversary special. Is Mattiusi excited about this milestone? “I’d be more excited about No. 18,” he said nonchalantly. “It’s a very important number. I think the best is yet to come. But I’m very excited about this series. It’s the beginning of a new cycle for me. It has a new energy, a touch of color, joy and reality.” I knew what he was going to say next, and he did say: “This is my favorite!”
Born and raised in Normandy to an Italian father and a French mother, Mattiusi knew his calling from an early age. After stints at Dior Homme, Marc Jacobs and Givenchy, he founded Ami in late 2010 as a menswear alternative to overly complex and performative designs. Angois What he has observed so far in his career: clothes are very relatable; and they are natural and unpretentious. “I guess if I wanted to be controversial or political or a conceptual designer, I could be. But that’s not my thing,” Mattiusi said.
‘Ami’, OK, Meaning “friend”. The brand’s official name also includes the word “Paris” to emphasize the Parisian casual vibe that Mattiusi observed in his workplace rather than where he hung out among his friends. Which brings us to Nicolas Santi-Weil, who has been CEO since 2013 and is the financial yin to Mattiussi’s creative yang.
“In a way, we feel like an old couple,” Mattiusi said as Santiwell laughed in the box during a video call. “At 13 years, this has been one of my longest relationships and I’m very proud of it.” Like all older couples, the pair had occasional conflicts but learned how to defuse them through counseling. “We learned to count down the seconds and find time to express it to each other when we had disagreements or didn’t understand,” Santee-Weir said. “I think it’s a beautiful relationship. I trust Alexander completely and I’m amazed by his creativity, which is driven by making people happy. So if you ask me how I’ve lasted 13 years, it’s because of that.”
