Business & Tech
Artist Brings Wearable Art to Valentine Vodka Martini Bar
Ferndale resident Mathew Richmond will exhibit dresses he made from paper and plastic during a show tonight at 8 p.m.
Paper or plastic?
This question does not conventionally roll through one’s mind when dress shopping for a night on the town, but when it comes to Ferndale artist Matthew Richmond and his collection of unconventional paper and plastic dresses, it is a question he has to ask every day.
“It basically all started about 6 years ago,” Richmond, 32, said.
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After Richmond began to display a paper dress he made for a mannequin in the window of a salon he managed in Ann Arbor, it gained popularity, and he gained a hobby.
Richmond said the idea of paper dolls came during his usually
most-creative period, boredom.
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“Usually when you are bored, that’s when you come up with things,” Richmond said. “It just took off from there.”
Richmond’s designs have been featured on fashion publications including FreeStyleinDetroit.blogspot.com, StyleLine and Hour Detroit.
From ads to editorials, Richmond has been commissioned to make his custom dresses by a wide array of clients, and even for the most memorable of occasions such as high school proms.
Richmond’s designs usually retail for approximately $150, depending on the level of detail and types of materials.
“All the dresses are wearable, just not conventional,” Richmond said. “Just like any other silk dress you would buy and be a little more careful with, at the same time you have to be a little more careful with a paper dress."
So where does he get his inspiration for his new designs now that he is no longer in ritual states of boredom? Richmond says it is all in the material.
“It comes from the actual things I make the dresses out of, even a plastic bag,” he said. “I like to turn someone’s trash into something you would never imagine.”
As for whether he has a future in the fashion industry using materials a little more machine washable, Richmond said “possibly and eventually.”
“I actually don’t know how to sew,” Richmond explained, but said once he learns, he will go from there.
The Paper Dolls exhibit will run from 8 tonight until 1 a.m. Friday at . There is a $3 donation encouraged at the door and patrons must be 21 years of age or older to attend.
Richmond says to expect a casual atmosphere and live, paper-clad dolls.
“I think it’s unique, and I think Ferndale is a very unique city," he said.
