Matthew 'Dada' Williams: on working with Gaga + Kanye

[Inferno 2,880]

From August 2018, not sure if AP but I barely found it and its quite insightful for anyone interested in TFM-era specifically with dada and the innerworkings of that creative relationship. For anyone who may not know, he was her creative partner during The Fame+Monster and has since gone on to design his own incredibly reputable/respected and successful fashion brand Alyx.

https://www.grailed.com/drycleanonly/matthew-williams-19-5

I met Gaga in 2008 at a sushi restaurant in LA with some mutual friends while I was still working for Kanye. She found out that I worked in costume and clothing design so she asked me to make her some pieces for an artist showcase at her record label. Through working with Kanye and Willo [Perron], I gained more experience in stage design and developing tour wardrobes, and Gaga asked me to do the same for her. I was working for both Gaga and Kanye simultaneously for about nine months. When “Just Dance” hit #1, she quickly became a global superstar. She announced a world tour and she ended up hiring me full-time.

'Ye had a large team of people working for him and I was in a rather junior position at the time, so I felt it was a great moment to focus on Gaga. Leading the creative direction for Gaga was really personal as I had worked with her from the beginning.

Gaga opened doors for me to work with European designers and manufacturers. I could never make clothes like that in LA. I developed a blend of high-fashion and luxury womenswear with an artistic and theatrical costume design, which made me feel like I was authentically part of the fashion community. We worked with some of the best photographers and creatives in the world. It was so fulfilling.

In all of my projects for Gaga, I emphasized the use of dialogue and collaboration—both of which are still very prevalent in my work today. I would always collaborate with Gaga or another designer, choreographer or photographer to really elevate the final product. Working with Gaga was inherently collaborative. It was really us just trying stuff out.

There was a real separation between celebrity stylists and fashion stylists at the time. Someone like Madonna was the only artist who would get clothes from a big fashion house, like Chanel. There was a clear separation between the fashion and entertainment industries. No one would lend out clothes to these huge artists. It was quite a closed door. There were a couple stylists that would cross over that were pretty top-tier, but not many. This separation is what drove Gaga and I ('Ye, too!) to design and create our own costumes and clothes.

I credit Gaga and 'Ye for breaking down those doors. We would basically make pieces for shoots and for performances because fashion brands wouldn't lend us cool stuff.

I am so proud of what we were able to accomplish. Gaga and I developed the concepts behind some of her most iconic dresses with the costume design team: the Meat Dress, the Fire Bra, the Bleeding Dress. I oversaw the design process and worked with the fabricators and ateliers that constructed each piece. She would just call me and go into a stream of consciousness on an idea or a concept. She would reference a painting or something that really inspired her and then I would riff on it and then propose ideas. We would go back and forth until it was something that she really loved. Then, I would go figure out how to make it.

Gaga referenced the Frida Kahlo painting,“Memory, the Heart”, which became the main inspiration for the bleeding dress as a result of the paparazzi flashes killing her. I was really inspired by all of Hussein Chalayan's dresses at the time. The Bleeding Dress and the Living Dress became my own interpretation and version of those dress concepts. The idea behind the Meat Dress came to me during a visit to the the Centre Pompidou. I saw a picture of a performance artist who used to make dresses out of meat and grass. I sent that reference over and we created our own version of this. We used the dress on a shoot with Terry Richardson for Vogue Hommes Japan and at the MTV VMA’s.

Everything we did was extremely collaborative. I can't take full credit for everything because there were so many great people who contributed to each and every piece. The ideas, designs, constructions and executions were a group effort.

 

[Borislshere 52,615]

if only Matthew were still apart of the Haus 

[HotLikeMexico 3,915]

Didn’t they used to bang too?

[Cyber Babylon 2,635]

1 minute ago, HotLikeMexico said:

Didn’t they used to bang too?

yes and he has a new born child back then too

[HotLikeMexico 3,915]

1 minute ago, Chris Martin said:

yes and he has a new born child back then too

😳

[doppelganger 3,740]

2 minutes ago, HotLikeMexico said:

Didn’t they used to bang too?

They dated, yes. 

I'd pick Matthew to Nicola any day. I don't think he gets enough credit among Gaga fans. 

[Rino 5,094]

I know I'm gonna get hate for this but I really think that Dada was the crucial part behind the Gaga image I fell in love with in 2010 

it's never been the same with Gaga's visual concept game ever since Dada left. 

[Inferno 2,880]

Just now, doppelganger said:

They dated, yes. 

I'd pick Matthew to Nicola any day. I don't think he gets enough credit among Gaga fans. 

They worked in sync though. Nicola was her stylist and gave them in's to the big house fashion brands but Matthew basically curated all the visuals and her entire aesthetic really. with her of course.

[Zander 14,817]

I loved what these two were able to create when they worked together. Him, Nicola & Gaga were like the dream team and produced everything she’s iconically known for. I miss those days where she had such strong iconography through fashion/props.

It’s good to see Matt is also doing well with his label Alyx to.

[Dukttape 1,437]

6 minutes ago, HotLikeMexico said:

Didn’t they used to bang too?

She's hinted that Bad Romance is about him

[Reginald 13,675]

 We Stan 

[HotLikeMexico 3,915]

5 minutes ago, Rino said:

I know I'm gonna get hate for this but I really think that Dada was the crucial part behind the Gaga image I fell in love with in 2010 

it's never been the same with Gaga's visual concept game ever since Dada left. 

Chile, the tea is exceptionally good today. 

[boyerased 2,758]

Dada gave her that cool vibe. No matter how weird she became, it was always sleek and cool.

 

I'm so happy he's doing good with Alyx. Like real good. I want him to make it big. Like Hedi Slimane/Karl big. 

[misunderstood 8,736]

I miss Dada

[Inferno 2,880]

7 minutes ago, Kimihiro said:

Dada gave her that cool vibe. No matter how weird she became, it was always sleek and cool.

 

I'm so happy he's doing good with Alyx. Like real good. I want him to make it big. Like Hedi Slimane/Karl big.