Lee Mattocks - Embroidery Combined with Taxidermy

I first saw Lee Mattocks' work at the 20th Anniversary of Lulu Guiness at the V&A last year. I was quite smitten with his hand bags. Is work is combination of embroidery and taxidermy - quite unusual. So naturally when Lee contacted me recently I really wanted to know more about his work and future plans.

What is your fashion background?
My background is fine art, however, I won a large scholarship to study fashion artefact at LCF because of my advanced skills in embroidery working on commissioned pieces for a number of years. i have shown embroidered artworks at a variety of venues including the Alexander Palace and the V&A.

What awards have you won?
Emroiderers Guild Scholarship, Harold Tillman Scholarship and shortlisted for: English Eccentrics Bursary and IHDA for best overall style and design.

What’s your inspiration behind this collection?
Inspired by the way historical artefacts are distorted, by the methods of display adopted by museums, how our personal lived experience and memories affect objects we see on display.The history of surrealism, and experimentation with surrealist drawing techniques such as automatic drawing and the paranoid critical method pioneered by Salvador Dali.

Do you do your own taxidermy?
No! Produced by a farmer in Scotland.

What’s next for you?
Working on my first commercial collection, looking at the psychology of the broken mirror and crystal shapes and geometry.

What is your favourite men’s accessory?
'Williams British Handmade' distorted briefcases.