All season long, judges praised Matysek’s storytelling, creative concepts and strong attention to detail.
We talked with Matysek about their Project Runway Canada journey, what it meant to represent TMU and what’s next.
What did making it to the final three teach you about yourself?
It felt like an evolution. The experience gave me a new sense of confidence. Going into the show, none of us knew what to expect — whether our aesthetic would land or whether the judges would appreciate what we do.
I consider myself more of an alternative designer, so I knew it could really go either way. There was a process of submitting myself to the show and the judges and saying, “I’m going to put myself out there.” Once I became more comfortable and started receiving positive feedback, that confidence grew and carried me all the way to the finale. I realized I should have trusted myself the entire time — I always had what I needed inside me. It was just a matter of trusting myself.
Why do you love corsets?
It was a bit of an accidental discovery. I was in my second year when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and all of our classes moved online. Being in the fashion program, that was a little bit detrimental because we didn’t have access to the space anymore.
I was lucky because I did have some patterns and pieces from the evening wear class I was doing at the time. I was able to start sewing and playing around with these understructures and then that sort of developed into this love for corsetry because it became this sort of Pandora’s box in a way.
It’s highly technical, with lots of little nuances. It was a perfect pastime to hone my skills and also keep me entertained during lockdown. When we started going back into school, I realized that corsetry and this idea of undergarments was a really great way for me to represent my whole design practice. Which is sort of taking these things that are meant to be underneath like a corset and bringing them to the outside.
What did competing at TMU mean to you?
I felt this big responsibility to represent the program and the university as best as I could. I was the only TMU graduate on the cast, and I thought, “I need to show up and represent.”
How did TMU prepare you for the competition?
The undergraduate fashion program prepares you for so many different things within the fashion design industry. We really get to pick and choose and it’s almost like a tasting menu of all of these different parts of the fashion industry.
Coming into the competition, I knew I could do evening wear and tailoring. So having that framework from that education gave me a foundation to build off of. It allowed me to enter the competition and say, “whatever they throw at me, I know I’m prepared for it.”
What specific skills from TMU helped you most?
There are so many different classes and courses and all these amazing electives. I want to say one of the classes, and this is going to come at no surprise, was a corsetry elective that was all about the history of corsetry. After you learned all the history, you got to fully design and make your own corset.
That process of draping directly onto a form is exactly what informed my entire process now being a designer. That’s what I did every episode on the show, you see me with the thin little black pieces of twill tape draping onto the form and then creating these garments. That was a technique that I learned in that class, and it was taught by Alysia Myette, who’s an incredible professor in the School of Fashion.
What opportunities should current students take advantage of?
There are so many opportunities in the School of Fashion. I think one of the biggest things that’s really important right now is just the community within the School of Fashion and The Creative School. There’s so many, like the Fashion Union, (external link) and the Black Fashion Student Association (external link) . I think connecting with your peers while you’re going through that program is so important.
On top of that, in the past there’s been connections between the School of Fashion and Fashion Art Toronto, which gives you the experience to present your designs on a runway outside of the school. It’s another opportunity to get into the community, start to network and build these connections. As much as getting good grades and your technical skills are very important, once you leave school, it’s really those connections and those relationships that are going to help you in this industry.
What’s next for Curtis Matysek
Matysek has big plans for the future. Now that the season has wrapped, they’re taking time off to rebrand.
“When I come back, I want to transition my business from being one-of-one pieces to more ready-to-wear,” Matysek says. “I spent so much time telling these stories and creating these almost fantasy worlds with my garments. I think it’s time that I bring other people into that world with me.”
In the spring, expect a website and ready-to-wear pieces. That includes sailor hats and a corset t-shirt.
See all of Matysek’s designs from the season: