Canadian designer, Lucian Matis has an enchanting manner and when he graciously invited us into his design studio for a ‘behind the scenes’ we were thrilled. It was just days before he would reveal his Fall/Winter runway collection at WMCFW’13. His charming, relaxed manner and complete commitment to his craft are indicative of why Lucian Matis is a force to recon with in the world of fashion and retail. The Matis labels include; Lucian Matis: The Black Label and Matis by Lucian Matis, his versatile, affordable diffusion line. He is about to launch a new home accessories line, Lucian Matis Home Decor collection. His fashion line for the home will feature high quality products including fragrances, candles, pillows and throws created from ‘all natural’ elements, a common thread found throughout all of Matis’ collections. His collections are widely available across Canada and the US. Daphne by Lucian Matis in it’s eighth season is sold exclusively on the Shopping Channel, and Matis plans to expand into the US and Europe.

LM: “I love design, first of all. I felt like the transition from fashion to home decor was quite natural… I just bought a new place and have so much fun decorating it… I thought ‘why not start designing your own?’ I felt like there were a lot of elements that were missing in my house that I couldn’t find, I’m quite particular about certain things and when I want a certain throw or a certain cushion I want to be able to create it myself.”

Lucian Matis’ has extraordinary talent that makes me starry eyed. Born in Romania, and based in Toronto, Lucian creates collections that look as if they were plucked from a dream. Exotic mosaic prints, sheer peplums, embossed leathers in playful tones of red and mustard yellow. He traveled to Paris to choose his fabrics for the Fall/Winter collection. He combines the elements to create some of the most luxurious and decadent pieces of wearable art on the Canadian and international runways. His Spring/Summer collection was inspired by travels to Marrakech, Morocco. The fabrics were designed by Lucian and reflect a “dream of Marrakech”. Their mosaics, rich colours and patterns are found in the patterns of tiles of Marrakech.

Matis’s Fall/Winter collection was inspired by the Amazon forests “bright colors of the plants and animals of the Amazon, mixed with the wild patterns and prints; like leopards, feathers, and shimmering forest pools”. Although warm weather has just made its way back to our streets the Matis subtle leathers, delicious wools, gorgeous psychedelics, plaids and patterns will make cooler weather something to look forward to.