The silence before the show buzzes with anticipation. Before the subtle vibrations murmur against the floors or the lights begin to dim, curiosity weaves itself through the room. Moments where editors lean in, pens in hand and cameras rise, the audience sits quietly, ready. We are all on the edge of our seats. Something unexpected could happen at any moment.
Backstage at Matières Fécales, Photo credit: Schohaja
Fashion thrives on curiosity; it’s the singular, relentless engine. Fashion isn’t about simply wanting new clothes; there’s a psychological itch to it. We’re hardwired to close the distance between what we want to know and what we need to know. We’ve created gaps and “piecemeal information” in fashion: we wait for collections to drop and anticipate any release. It creates interest in onlookers of any kind. Fashion houses are excellent at this as they force us to resolve an elusive mystery, becoming a powerful currency. We begin to crave what is unknown. What will a designer send down the runway? Why do we care about what silhouettes will reach the stores? Why does a ten to twenty-minute presentation hold the attention of an entire industry?
The runway is where ideas once unknown become visible, where speculation turns into form through fabric, textures and attitude. Each look answers a question we do not fully know the answer to: what could be next? Or what does it mean? It’s the essence that forces viewers into a state of wonder. And fashion operates on the promise of what will come next: the next silhouette, the next aesthetic, the next mood that causes a shift in culture. Shows become the physical manifestation of that promise.
Take Matières Fécales, a brand founded by Montreal-based duo Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran, which has built a cult following by transforming the human body into something unfamiliar, ill at ease and bizarre. Their work exists between fashion, performance art and speculative biology. Their faces are stretched into an alien-like form, with skin now glossy and synthetic, and the body and garments distorted and abnormal. You cannot look away as they draw you in.
Instagram: Matières Fécales
Their FW26/27 “One Percent” collection displayed curiosity as one of the show's main characters, with their silhouettes dark, gritty, and exaggerated. The body has morphed into shapes that feel futuristic and a declaration against those who benefit from being in the 1%. Something that’s never been critiqued in such a manner. They do so in creating looks that were subverted with BDSM-inspired accessories, including pearl gags, bundles of banknotes used as blinding masks, and red-palm "Guilt-Gloves" that appeared stained with blood. Their effect was hypnotic as you watched the models down the runway; you began to ask questions. Is this disturbing? What is the actual critique? Is this still in a fashion context?
This peculiar critique challenges the rigid ideals that have previously shaped fashion. The ideas of perfection and exploring limits went only so far until Matiers Fecales' show. It proves the ability of exploration within the fashion context. They do so by suggesting that the body and materials are fixed, rather, they are reimagined and push boundaries. Hence, the reckoning on how we view their message on the 1% through exaggerated performance and the sculpturing of fabrics.
This creates tension between fascination and uncertainty, where curiosity is formed and lives.
Historically, fashion shows were intimate events reserved for a small audience of editors, creatives and buyers. Inside these small rooms, the industry collectively discovered the designers' hidden imagined work. It works as a reveal, the moment where something mysterious has transformed into reality. Now, we find fashion as something more accessible, through social media or livestreams. Despite this, that curiosity has not disappeared; if anything, it’s intensified.
This intensification has accelerated through the rhythms of fashion consumptions. There’s a circling fragments of collections which turns each runway moment into something that is now a sharable visual. The digital exposure increases the desire to witness it, through the glimpses of a ten-second clip or a close up of the fabric posted. This accessibility has not eliminated its mystery as it invites speculation rather than providing complete understanding. The viewer is left craving the completed puzzle displayed.
Designers like Matières Fécales understand this concept intuitively and refuse to compromise their work. Instead of presenting themselves as the standard, they delve into viewers' interests through how they sell clothes on Depop or through their odd-looking silhouettes. This results in an unsettling mode in the best way possible, forcing viewers into a state of questioning.
Instagram: Matières Fécales
Instagram: Matières Fécales
Presentations like this make us curious, as they confront us with something we cannot fathom immediately. At its most powerful, fashion disrupts what feels familiar, and in that moment of uncertainty, there is an emergence of recognition and surprise. Fashion runs on these peculiar dynamics, as every show, every item presents a possibility that has never existed before. We keep our eyes glued because we understand what is unknown, what will be new and up and coming. This ultimately reveals something new about ourselves that we did not recognise was there. It is the engine that keeps the creative wheel moving.
For creatives, this moment of questioning becomes a transformative moment. Seeing an unexpected experimentation reminds us that creativity is alive when boundaries are challenged. This energy keeps curiosity as a thriving force. Fashion is more than clothing, it’s how we imagine growth within culture, aesthetics, and story. The runway is now a laboratory, testing ideas in front of an audience: it fuels the curiosity driving the industry forward.