PREVIEW THE SPRING 2010 COLLECTION BELOW WHICH WILL BE AVAILABLE SHORTLY ON WWW.MATTANDNAT.COM–BE SURE TO STAY TUNED!
Not to worry if you weren’t able to watch MATT & NAT featured on ETALK on January 5th! Click here or the image above to watch the one-on-one interview with Founder and Creative Director Inder Bedi.
ETALK features a report on MATT & NAT’s 21 water bottle campaign as well as a sneak peek of our Spring 2010 collection!
I recently came across an article that was published in the Men’s Journal by Patrick Jordan (a British/American writer, consultant and professional speaker) and found it a painful pleasure to read. The article revolves around the idea and the realizations of getting old.
This article makes you think about the materialistic things you once had or hoped for, and makes you realize that by getting older, these things become so trivial. Whether it’s the expensive clothing or sports car that have been traded for something more “comfortable” like flip flops and a Hawaiian shirt, or a sedan with 4 doors, you begin not to care. You take time and pleasure with the smaller things in life, like talking to the mail man, or stopping and petting your neighbor’s dog as they walk by.
It’s kind of sad that it takes an article like this or even the thought/ fact of getting old to make someone cherish and appreciate the smaller things in life. Especially with the Holidays upon us, our society gets so wrapped up in a whirlwind of materialistic possessions.
Patrick finished off the article leaving me with some food for thought (hopefully it will leave you some too):
“You get old, you cry more. Not over your lost dreams, your sins, your old age, your impending death. You cry for others.” “…you cry for everyone but yourself because you lived a wonderful life, and you wish that every person, every pet, could live such a life too. When you were young, you cried only for yourself.”
Be grateful for the small stuff in life, what you have, and the people surrounding you. Maybe for some, it won’t take the realization of getting old to make you appreciative.
Wishing you all the best for the year to come, Happy Holidays!
Click here to view the full article.
Founded in 2004 by Barlas Baylar, Hudson Furniture Inc has quickly garnered an A-list following; Featured regularly in renowned publications such as Metropolitan Home, Surface and ID magazine (just to name a few) and by having a celebrity clientele anywhere from Gwyneth Paltrow, Lenny Kravitz and Tom Ford, Baylar has struck a high note with his sleek, minimalist designs.
To give you an idea, Baylar’s designs are comprised of wood slabs that have either been salvaged or are wind/storm damaged with a lifespan of about 300 years. Another great thing about his designs is that nothing is ever wasted—any leftovers/scraps are certain to be worked into the next masterpiece.
Alongside his 20-odd craftsmen, Baylar enhances these one of a kind raw items into beautiful works of art and modernizes each piece with industrialized features. Examples of materials used are claro walnut, acacia, pine, jasmine, molded steel, silver and bronze—not to mention petrified wood from all over the world (which has the look of wood but the feel of stone).
Hudson Furniture’s contemporary works have become a staple in modern design in recent years. For me, it’s a gratification I get by knowing these trees were going to be left for doom and decay and have been transformed into utilitarian furnishings that will be around for another generation.
Items such as handcrafted tables, consoles, bed frames, headboards, side-tables, mirrors, sofas, and elegant nickel/chain chandeliers can be found only at their workshop/showroom located in NYC.
For info visit: http://www.hudsonfurnitureinc.com/
I saw these Sci-Fi type dogs a couple of weeks ago and it was love at first sight. Robert Bradford (the artist) and I have been emailing each other back and forth over the last week—I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to meeting him at his next exhibition in Toronto. Here’s a little info…
Seems ol’ Rob has a cynical side as he describes his youth and growing up in a “fairly bland South London suburb”. What fascinates me most is that he practiced psychotherapy to pay the bills but his true desire was to be an artist from a very young age…très cool.
The pic you see above is the result of him staring at his son’s abandoned toys and wondering how they could be put to better use. Today, London native and retired psychotherapist Robert Bradford, has become renowned world wide for creating contemporary life-size sculptures from discarded children’s toys; he uses mainly plastic but also includes other pieces from wooden toys, metal and rubber.
Works from this series have been shown in London, Bristol and New York. They can also be seen in Paris, Amsterdam, Flanders and Bangkok over the next coming months.
Seeing himself as a mad scientist and being trained in both painting and film making, Bradford constantly likes to see movement and change in his work and therefore recreates life in each and every one of his sculptures.
Recently he started venturing on a new path that features darker pieces, not just in their physical attributes, but also symbolically made from metal materials such as pot scourers.
Bradford doesn’t necessarily have a message to send or a meaning behind each piece, nor does he have the direct intention to recycle, re-use or reduce, however he is doing our environment a favor by giving these lost and forgotten toys another life and saving them from the endless abyss of a landfill.
Visit http://www.robertbradford.co.uk/ for more info.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
The MATT & NAT sample sale is back! We know you’ve all been waiting for it….
Don’t miss out on styles from 50% to 70% off!
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 17TH: 10AM-7PM
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 18TH: 10AM-7PM
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 19TH: 10AM-7PM
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20TH: 10AM-7PM
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 21ST: 9AM - 3PM
**CASH ONLY**
**NEW STOCK DAILY**
I’m always weary about charity ads that ask for your money for some noble cause. What percentage of the money will actually go to those in need?
I want to tell you about Stephanie Dotto, a 16-year-old Montreal high school student wanting to make a difference. In 2003, Stephanie began learning about the poverty and the less fortunate people of Malawi and decided that every child in the world should at least own one pair of shoes. Malawi is located in southeastern Africa. It has a low life expectancy rate and high infant mortality with a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS. It is the 4th poorest country in the world.
With her conviction and determination, Stephanie was able to collect over 1200 pairs of shoes as well as enough funds to bring these items over to Malawi herself and be accompanied by her father. Years later, this young woman is actively involved with helping this cause and is continuously launching new projects and fundraisers to help the people of Malawi (www.itallstartedwiththeshoes.org). When sending over containers filled with basic necessities as well at vitamins, antibiotics, medicines etc., the middle man is completely cut out and all of the goods are sent directly to the MIC sisters in Malawi who then distribute the items accordingly.
My family has been a regular contributor to these containers. Two years ago, MATT & NAT donated $500 which was used to build a hospital wall. We’ve started gathering items for the next container going out: computers, chairs, my old bike that’s been gathering dust for a year. I don’t need to tell you how these everyday items that we take for granted on a regular basis go a very long way in 3rd world countries.
You’ve watched the ads on T.V and flipped through print ads in mags and have wanted to do something…here is your chance to really make a difference….
If you’re in Montreal, please get in touch with Lilia Manricks from St. Luke’s Parish (re: The Malawi Project, 514-684-6488) they have organized and are trying to fill up a container going to Malawi at the end of October to contribute to Stephanie’s cause.
Here is a list of specific items they are looking for:
- Stationery
- Discarded kindergarten equipment
- Bicycles
- Toys
- Sewing Machines
- Nurses’ Uniforms
- Kitchen utensils
- Pots & Pans
- Soap
- Plastic Cups
- Child supplement vitamins
We are pleased to announce the winners of our “What does MATT & NAT mean to you” contest. We had some great letters; however there were two in particular that stood out as they were beautifully written not only technically but also on a personal level.
The letters we found most effective were written by Ms. A.Dillon and M. D.Rader and are posted below for you all to read.
You may be wondering why you don’t recognize or cannot find the bags in the images above…not only are these bags are what will be received by these two winners but both styles are from our not-yet-launched Fall 09 SUEDE & FEUTRE collections which are made entirely from recycled plastic water bottles. That’s right; these two winners are getting a sneak preview of our new collections!
We truly appreciate everyone’s participation in this contest as well as the time and thought that was put into each and every letter, thank you all very much!
Be sure to stay tuned for these collections in the coming month as well as future contests, news and updates; 2010 has a lot in store!
Ms. A. Dillon
Matt & Nat is the young girl freshly arrived at university, in a city where the effortless chic of distressed denim and looped scarves made the women click-clacking their way home from the dépanneur seemed ready for the runways she had seen only on television. It is that vibrant red bag in the boutique window on rue St-Laurent, all contrast stitching and chunky buckles, eyed during all those Saturday afternoons of make-believe shopping for the life she wanted to lead. Once she knew the philosophy behind that red bag finally hanging proudly on her shoulder, she felt a little more at home in that city, her fierce childhood love for backyard critters and zoo creatures suddenly au courant. Matt & Nat is the same girl years later, now employed in a different city, catching her reflection in the Queen Street store window. Stopping to fix her hair, she spots the familiar branded display of rich charcoal totes, all long zippers and antiqued hardware. In a split second, she was there and back again, from small town to big city, from shy girl to assured young woman, and suddenly she found herself in a rush for the streetcar, with that new tote wrapped up under her arm. To me, Matt & Nat was me then at 18, and it’s me now at 28. It’s the stylish new in the old, the recycled old in the new. Matt & Nat is change without changing what really matters. It’s evolution.
M. D. Rader
What Matt and Nat means to me is the realization of the dream of style finally catching up to substance. I have been vegan for more than twenty years. I spent the first five or six years, clinging to leather shoes and belts, wearing them out, re-soling shoes, giving away my suede jacket and leather briefcase. I stretched out the lifespan of anything leather that I retained both because the marketplace offered so few reasonable options and out of respect for the life that had been taken to make that leather product.
About fifteen years ago, I finally did a complete purge. I took shopping trips to New York to specific stores that I had found carried non-leather goods – particularly shoes and belts. With the more recent growth of options and Internet storefronts in the past ten years, I have still had to scour the marketplace to find those small pockets of cool designers who made products that sacrificed neither style nor our four-legged friends. But finding the right bag has always been a challenge – some things that looked great would tear in a matter of weeks or days. I needed something sturdy enough for travel and formal enough for work.
Matt and Nat is the brand I have been waiting for - that one giant leap forward in style, performance and soul. Matt and Nat meets my travel and work needs and my personal commitment to be too cool for cruel.
Thanks for stepping up.
Explanation, interpretation, intimation, significance, symbolization, understanding, value and worth. These are all synonyms for one word…MEANING.
We know what MATT & NAT means to us, now we would like to hear it from our customers: what does MATT & NAT mean to you?
Email us at blog@mattandnat.com before August 30th at midnight and tell us what MATT & NAT means to you in 250 words, the best men’s and women’s letters will win one of our new Fall 09 handbags.
MATT & NAT is proud to announce our nominations for two veggie awards: Favorite Online Store and Favorite Vegan Accessory for 2009!
The veggie awards are based on your votes, so we are asking you to take a few seconds to take the survey and to pass onto your friends and family! Don’t be shy because you can vote as many times as you want! Short on time? Just go directly to PAGE 3 and PAGE 4 and vote for us in the two categories (NOTE: In order for your vote to count, you must vote for at least 50% of the categories).
By voting, not only can you win a tropical getaway for two as a grand prize, but you can also win a His and Her MATT & NAT bag as first prize along with a lot of super chic products.
We want to thank our devoted customers and fans for helping us get to where we are today. As a pioneering fashion label based in Montreal, MATT & NAT has been balancing the worlds of design and social responsibility since 1997. Giving back pays off! MATT & NAT has been chosen as one of the 100 fastest growing Canadian companies by Profit Magazine.
Polls close July 31st at midnight so make sure you put your vote(s) in before then!
Click here to vote for MATT & NAT.
