You couldn't invent designer Matt Dick; his approach to style is so personal, so particular, so unexpected. Although he was born and raised in the Bay Area, Matt is clearly a citizen of the world.
Last week I dropped in on the SF-based sage of global style for a Q & A. The takeaway? It's all about layers—tunics over jeans, scents on top of scents, strands of necklaces and stacks of leather bracelets.
Photography by Mimi Giboin for Remodelista.
Above: Matt in the doorway of Small Trade Company, his studio and workshop on the edge of SF's Tenderloin.
RM: When did the tunic become your everyday uniform?
MD: I first started wearing a kurta (Turkish for tunic) about 10 years ago when I began doing yoga. I bought my first at Dosa, as I loved the Khadi cotton, but it went threadbare pretty quickly so I started making my own.
RM: The necklaces?
MD: I've acquired a collection over time, and each one has a story. This one includes feathers from Accident and Artifact on Valencia, bells from Kapital in Tokyo (one of my favorite stores), and a wooden charm I whittled myself during a weekend in Inverness
RM: On your wrists?
MD: The cuffs are by Henry Beguelin (for the record, it's stamped leather). The rest are mostly pieces by Stacey Lorinczi, which we collaborated on when I oversaw the shop at Bardessono.
RM: Jeans of choice?
MD: Kota, who works here in the studio with me, makes a lot of my jeans. He has a vintage Levi's machine that is solely for creating the double-locked chain stitch (it was originally used for the inseam of the 501 jeans). If I do buy jeans, it's either Levis or Acne.
RM: Where do you find your simple white shirts?
MD: They're all Comme des Garcons, one from each trip to Japan. There are a few Yohji mixed in, too.
RM: What's on your feet?
MD: These boots are by Belgian line Elsa, although my everyday ones are Fiorentini and Baker.
RM: Key chain?
MD: I make my own with leather and indigo tassels.
RM: The wallets?
MD: Ben Philips at Levi's saw one of the wallets that I had made for myself and commissioned these. I used to have two Martin Margiela Wallets that I bought in LA, but I lost them both; luxury goods seem to run away from me. We added the indigo tassels instead of a label, as they seem to have become our logo.
RM: Hair care?
MD: I'm an Oribe devotee. I use Oribe Signature Shampoo and Conditioner, which my hair cutter Marcy Harman (she's based in LA but comes periodically to Harper Paige in SF) introduced me to.
RM: What's your everyday scent?
MD: I wear In Fiore's solid perfumes, either Oud Amberi Attar or Vetiver Sambac. Then I might layer on Escentric Molecules 01, which starts neutral then develops a scent with the skin.
RM:: Reading material?
MD: I'm a magazine junkie. I read Apartamento, Casa Brutus, Man About Town, Fantastic Men, Monocle, Numero and Numero Home, and Acne Paper. I even get a Sunday-only subscription to the New York Times just for T Magazine.