MATTE: Where do you find your inspiration for your designs?
When do you get your best ideas?

MO: I find inspiration everywhere and it always comes at different times—walking around the city, looking at old photo albums, the way my family and I used to dress, or through different forms of music. I get some of my best ideas when I am on a flight, or in the shower.

MATTE: What are the important values/messages you want your work to carry/reflect?

MO: At anOnlyChild, we value inclusivity and having a sense of belonging. We work on making the brand feel true and push the conversation of heritage and family values, which includes our friends. No man is an island and it does take a village, and AOC is a community for all.

MATTE: anOnlyChild has a very poetic and detailed description and identity, where did the idea of the name come from?
Does it reflect yourself in some way? If so, how?

MO: Well, I am an only child. Growing up, the idea of making something out of nothing was very much part of my childhood. I had to entertain myself, but always felt safe and protected as there were family and friends there for me. That idea was the beginning of a story, which reflects how we design clothes. We want to make sure that people know that there’s a beginning, a story to these garments. It’s a story that just started and there is still so much more to be told.

MATTE collaborated with Maxwell Osborne’s new label “AnOnlyChild” on a capsule collection around MATTE BLACK inspired by rave culture, the NYC streets, and a proclivity for dressing in all black.

MATTE: What is your absolute favorite place in New York?

MO: Wandering around the streets of NYC.

MATTE: 3 things you would take on a deserted island?

MO: Things for survival—food, music and water.

MATTE: The best advice someone ever gave you?

MO: When I was 19, working in retail at Tommy Hilfiger, a manager told me to quit my job because I was meant for bigger things. To this day I still thank Molly for opening my eyes at that time!

MATTE: If you could pick one person – dead or living – you could have dinner with who would it be?

MO: Picking just one person is hard, as it changes daily. Right now, I would have to say Marcus Garvey based on the artist Tavares Strachan’s exhibition, The Awakening, which reflects on Garvey’s legacy as a pioneering Jamaican-born activist.