The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Operational decision · 2025
Matières Fécales' Paris Fashion Week show sparked 'Hunger Games' backlash — a PR disaster
Avant-garde Matières Fécales' SS26 show at Paris Fashion Week went viral as critics called it a 'fetish show' after untrained models struggled on camera.
Matières Fécales · Dalton & Bhaskaran · 2025-10
What happened
Matières Fécales, the avant-garde fashion label founded by Canadian duo Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran, presented its Spring/Summer 2026 collection "A Rose is a Rose" at Paris Fashion Week on 1 October 2025. The show was held at the 17th-century Hôtel d'Évreux and featured romantic-goth designs inspired by Alexander McQueen silhouettes, with hats by Stephen Jones and heels by Christian Louboutin.
Instead of professional models, the designers cast friends and acquaintances — including social media personality Nikki Lilly, who has a visible medical condition — citing a desire to challenge the industry's rigid norms. However, many models visibly struggled to walk in high heels due to inexperience, producing awkward, uncomfortable walks on camera. The afterparty was open to the general public. The brand's name translates to "Fecal Matters" in French, further fueling the backlash.
Social media reaction was overwhelmingly negative. Netizens compared the show to The Hunger Games and Star Wars. Comments included "It's not fashion at this point, it's some strange deconstruction of style," and "Paris Fashion should be renamed… Paris Fetish Week." Some users targeted Nikki Lilly's appearance due to her medical condition. A few defended the label for "making fashion interesting again." The controversy generated massive online engagement but almost entirely negative press, damaging the brand's reputation during a critical growth phase.
Why it happened
- Casting non-professional models without training in a high-stakes runway environment guaranteed visible awkwardness that became the story of the show, not the clothes.
- The brand's name and prior reputation for boundary-pushing aesthetics primed audiences to view the show through a lens of provocation rather than fashion.
- The open afterparty and lack of professional model coaching created a perception of amateurism that overshadowed the collection's design merits.
The lesson
A runway show meant to challenge norms still needs to present merchandise. When models cannot walk, the audience sees spectacle instead of clothes — and that spectacle is rarely positive.
Aftermath
The brand continued to operate but the controversy remained a defining public perception of Matières Fécales. The show became a cautionary case study in how provocation-based branding can backfire when the execution does not match the ambition.
Sources
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