A SENSE OF PLACE: With Paris nearly emptied of Parisians in August, Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran had Place Vendôme pretty much to themselves one fine morning recently when they shot the campaign for their debut Matières Fécales collection. She modeled; he snapped away.
The iconic square, home to the Ritz hotel and the world’s top jewelry brands, is as establishment and posh as it gets — a nice foil to their striking, hunch-shouldered tailoring, artfully tattered sweaters, opera gloves lined with metal spikes, and a hairy shearling coat that brings to mind an albino Sasquatch.
The images break Friday on Matières Fécales’ Instagram channels, which together boast more than a million followers.
“An Instagram post can go a really long way to communicate your values, your message, your vision,” Bhaskaran said. “The campaign is a way for us to express ourselves in a different way than just through the fashion show…and to showcase the authenticity that we feel in the clothes, and hopefully have that resonate with future clients.”
Hannah Rose in Matières Fécales’ fall 2025 campaign.
Steven Raj/Courtesy of Matières Fécales
The newest addition to the brand development division of Dover Street Market Paris, Matières Fécales was sold into around 25 retailers with the debut fall 2025 collection, including the likes of H.Lorenzo, Ekseption Madrid, Ssense and five Dover Street Markets. At its Paris emporium, Matières Fécales’s tailoring, shredded tweeds and mohair knits have been selling briskly their first week on the rails, despite the hot weather, Dalton enthused. “Fashion is not just the show and the imagery — it’s a business at the end of the day.”
“We’re just excited to see people wearing it, to see how they interpret it, how they live in it, how they transform in it,” Bhaskaran piped in. “And that’s what’s super exciting for us.”
The young Canadian couple are recent transplants to the French capital, having logged a decade as content creators, performance artists and DJs fond of zombie makeup and body dysphoria, slowly scrabbling their way onto the international fashion scene.
They have not been welcomed everywhere in Paris with open arms, sometimes refused entries to restaurants, or verbally berated for their alien-esque appearance.
Hannah Rose in Matières Fécales’ fall 2025 campaign.
Steven Raj/Courtesy of Matières Fécales
“We experience such polarizing reactions to what we do,” Bhaskaran said. “Maybe what’s shifted is that we don’t feel as alone anymore in this journey, and we found so many like-minded people that we can connect with.”
“Now I feel like we’re more confident in our skin,” Dalton said, adding with a good-natured chuckle, “So if you like it or not, we’re here.”
Dalton also let slip that Matières Fécales will return to Place Vendôme for its next runway show, scheduled for Sept. 30 during Paris Fashion Week.
