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As Fashion Week swept the nations major cities, Friday the 22nd of February also marked the eagerly awaited launch of Benaiah Matheson’s Bad Panda capsule collection.
The event took place at the Connoisseurs Independent Trading post in the Byram Arcade (Huddersfield). The store features a permanent mural drawn by Benaiah that sweeps the floor, ceilings and walls. The visually provoking backdrop formed the perfect setting as guests were entertained with live music and spoken word from the likes of Savvy, Heri Shesta, MXI, and Booky .
At the crescendo of the evening, the collection was unveiled with three models kitted out in the Bad Panda collection walk into the room, in a single file. The presentation had begun.
From the back of the store facing the audience, Benaiah revealed the concept behind the Bad Panda Collection and went into detail about how important it was for him to develop and source materials as closely to Huddersfield as possible. He went on to say “There’s a point in a creation where the vision is born from a concept and the vision becomes a reality out of its conceptualism. Once these things are noted and defined in reality, the page must turn. Today I turned a new page.”
Savvy, Record Label Owner and MC said, “ I was honoured when asked to attend and contribute to the BADPANDA event. This launch was quite a benchmark moment for Benaiah. It was almost like a statement of intent for 2015 and onwards. The night showed us all just how far things have come from those initial t-shirt designs to fully developed pieces being delivered to individuals all over the world.”
Savvy went on to perform some tracks from his unreleased album; the release date for this project is yet to be confirmed.
Laura Jarmalaite, Events Coordinator added, “I found Benaiah’s presentation inspiring. I loved the fact that he blended spoken word, singing with a saxophonist and a DJ to present his collection. I also thought that It was amazing that he put so much energy and thought into creating fabric and details which were all made locally in Huddersfield and UK.
Items from the bad panda collection are now available and you can take a closer look at them here.
All photos were taken by Kano Kane
Words by Anthony Caton