Never one to follow, the latest collection by Material Boy celebrates a notion other labels dare not tread: a person’s ‘inner gay’.

Fluorescence is the essence of Material Boy. From its cheeky Madonna-inspired name to its ingenious mishmash of fabrics and styles, from Japanese cottons to ‘80s parachute pants, Material Boy is totally camp and very attention, grabbing. Mic Eaton, the founder, designs clothes that are not for the faint of heart, or dull of style.

A former pro surfer, Mic began his fashion career by re-designing clothes sent to him by sponsors. His rebellious and grungy range debuted at the 2003 Perth Fashion Festival, in his hometown, and Mic was later crowned WA Designer of the Year in 2006.

Mic’s latest collection has a particularly fruity taste, encouraging straight and gay fashion connoisseurs alike to tap into their internal queer. The range is aptly titled, ‘Celebrate Your Inner Gay’.

A key piece is the ‘Boyfriend Pants’ which, like boyfriends themselves, come in all shapes, sizes and colours. An impressive variation on the ubiquitous skinny jean, these figure-hugging leggings end just above the ankles, with stirrups for good measure. Colour-wise, take your pick from fluoro pink, blue or acid black.

‘Inner gay’ continues Material Boy’s trend of loud, rousing interplays between opposites: masculine and feminine, baggy and tight, street and commercial, delicate and boisterous. The balloon crotch shorts are engineered to emphasise, well, your crotch, while the low-crotch MC Hammer pants deliberately hide it.

But this is not just clothing to be worn on a runway – Mic is insistent that his clothes are “for people forging their own creative path, who truly express their individuality through what they’re wearing”. Mic’s other off-shoot label, Another Boy, features unique party and casual gear consisting of alphabet soup-patterned tees and oversized jackets, loose flannelette shirts and tartan shorts, and any mix of the above.

The future looks as bright as a fluoro peach singlet for Mic and ‘The Boy’. The label is stocked in over 15 countries (and counting), including the US, UK, Japan, France and Australia.

With previous collections such as ‘The Vomit Affair’ and ‘Honey I Shrunk the Boi’, Mic and co. display a sense of humour often missing in the world of fashion. A

www.materialboy.com.au

www.anotherboy.com.au