Inside Matières Fécales' Show at Place de la République

Hannah Mones attended Matières Fécales' Spring/Summer 2027 show in person on the evening of Monday, September 28, 2026, staged at Place de la République, a square known in France for protest marches rather than couture.

A Square That Doesn't Usually Do This

Place de la République has hosted French political demonstrations for generations, and holding a runway show there instead of one of Paris's usual fashion venues said something before a single model walked. Arriving guests were each handed a printed booklet featuring Steven Raj Bhaskaran, one half of the brand's founding pair, speaking about his own upbringing in a low income household. Last year's debut collection was built around the theme of the 1 percent. This season's is about the 99 percent.

The Show Itself

The collection opened with a pregnant model in a white, one-shoulder draped gown, a matching veil trailing off one shoulder, her hand resting on her belly as she walked. The show ran a little over half an hour, closing at 20:38. It moved unevenly on purpose: slow, near-silent stretches broken up by sudden loud music, the lighting cutting on and off rather than staying steady, sometimes dropping the runway into darkness before flooding back in pink, blue, red, white, black or grey. Smoke moved through several segments too. Models walked faster during the loud stretches and slower when the sound dropped out.

The color choices weren't just in the lighting. At one point three models walked in sequence dressed in white, blue and red, the same three colors as the French flag. Another look was built around a pale pink and gold sari with a train long enough to drag across the ground, worn with white opera gloves. Casting ranged widely too, including several heavily built male models, one shirtless in a flag print bandana, alongside the collection's more theatrical, feathered and metallic pieces.

Bhaskaran walked the runway himself partway through, flanked by two women dressed in white: his mother and his sister, the latter carrying a small child in her arms.

Two looks made up the finale, not one. In the first, a model in a cream suit carried another man across his shoulders, dressed in black, face down, a banknote covering his face. The closing look repeated the image with two men instead of one: a model in a floor length metallic gold gown carrying two men in black suits, one of them in a blonde wig, both with banknotes over their faces. It was the starkest image of the night, and it put the booklet's wealth theme directly on the runway rather than leaving it as an idea in a program.

The Room Was Watching Rihanna

Rihanna arrived a few minutes before 8pm and took her seat beside Rick Owens and his wife, Michèle Lamy. For most of the show, more eyes stayed on the front row than on the runway. At one point she walked directly past me on her way to her seat, close enough that there was no question it was her. After the show ended, she stayed for several minutes for photos, including with British content creator and television presenter Nikki Lilly.

A Brand I Didn't Expect to Connect With

Matières Fécales wasn't a brand I knew going in, and its aesthetic isn't naturally what I gravitate toward. I left having changed my mind. Building the season around one of its own founder's lived experience, rather than an abstract idea, is what made the difference.