Our Exclusive Interview with Designer Matthew Williamson

The pull of the Balearic Islands is enough to convince you that magic abounds there. If you have visited–or long to visit–this archipelago, rest assured that the energy that comes over you is and will be magnificent. Our newest collaboration with designer Matthew Williamson captures this magic–a carefree bohemian spirit living through the sun-soaked lens of the Balearic Islands. Inspired by long afternoons drifting between hidden coves, vibrant market stalls, and golden Mediterranean sunsets, this capsule blends Matthew’s signature kaleidoscopic prints with Free People’s effortless femininity. Flowing silhouettes, artisanal details, and richly layered colors evoke a life lived barefoot by the sea—untamed, romantic, and endlessly free.

To celebrate the release of this collection, we met Matthew in Mallorca to discuss his illustrious career, his home and how it inspired these wonderfully fresh and truly magical pieces.

More from Matthew below:

MATTHEW WILLIAMSON’S POINT OF VIEW

For someone discovering your work today, how would you describe your point of view?
My work, creatively speaking, has always had a very optimistic, joyful point of view. I like to create things that bring a smile to people's faces.

Your work has had a lasting influence on fashion. What do you think people have always connected to in it?
I think what I've noticed when people connect with my work is a sense of joy. I really like to imbue a sense of optimism in everything I do, and that really comes across when you buy one of my pieces.

There's a real sense of colour, print and optimism running through everything you do. Where does that perspective come from?
My sense of colour, pattern, print and embellishment really started out as a young boy observing my mother—how she got dressed for work the next day, her jewellery, her makeup, her hair, her clothing, her colour choices. They all had a really lasting impact on me, and still do to this day.

I've always seen myself as a summer designer. I love the season—long, lazy days at the beach, sunsets. It really inspires me to create.

REVISITING THE ‘90s

Your work first came to prominence at a very specific moment in fashion. What do you think it brought to that time that felt new or different?
Back in the nineties when I started my career, I didn't really know this at the time, but with hindsight I now know that my work was really different to mainstream fashion. It was quite an androgynous period—lots of sharp tailoring, lots of masculine looks. My collection came onto the scene and it was quite opposite to that. It was celebrating the woman's body. It was about beauty and great bolts of almost neon, electric-like colour, and also the simplicity of it, the effortlessness of it. And I think that still follows through today in this collection.

When you think about your earlier work now, do you still think that is true to you today?
There's definitely a consistency in the work I've done over the years—probably three decades of work now. There are common threads. I'm drawn to colour and to beautiful things. I'm drawn to travel and nature. All of those things remain. I'd just like to think there's a little bit more polish and sophistication now.

STEPPING AWAY FROM FASHION

You stepped away at a moment when your brand was incredibly visible. What led you to leave fashion then?
I decided to step away from fashion after twenty years in the industry, mostly because I'd got slightly tired of the cyclical nature of fashion—the relentless pace, the sort of ironic repetition. Although you think it's new, it's often the same system that repeats itself. Twenty years, four collections a year. It was definitely time to move on and pivot.

What were you searching for creatively that fashion wasn't giving you at the time?
I decided to pivot from fashion into interior design, largely to change pace, change my lifestyle, and really delve into an industry that felt adjacent—albeit a different industry. I really enjoyed that arc from fashion to interiors. And now, with Free People, back into fashion again—it feels like a lovely full circle.

MALLORCA, AND A NEW CHAPTER

Working in interiors and living in Mallorca—how did your creative identity shift?
My move to Mallorca shifted my creativity in many ways. Most of all, what I love now about my work is that continued bohemian lifestyle—that quality of undone, laid-back luxury. My work feels a little bit more earthy and rustic, and I love that quality.

MATTHEW WILLIAMSON’S RETURN–AND FREE PEOPLE

Why now? What made now feel like the right moment to return to designing clothing?
This collaboration with Free People feels like the perfect timing. I really loved getting back into fashion and working with a brand that I feel is aligned with my values. Creatively, we've just come together in perfect harmony to make a collection we're both really proud of.

How does your approach to design feel different today than it did during your earlier collections?
My approach now is different. I'm a lot older. I'd like to think I've got a lot more experience. So whilst there's lots of overlap and similarity to how I used to work, the main difference now is that I paint. I love to paint in my studio at home—canvases small and large. Everything starts with the painting. That never happened before. It used to be a team of fifty people. Now it's a tiny team I can count on one hand. So I'm really central to the process, and it really begins with the painting.

What about Free People felt aligned with your creative world?
The collaboration with Free People is special to me because I think collaborations are great when they're fifty-over-fifty. I feel we've both given equal amounts of energy and creativity to the project. We've shared our strengths, and we've come up with this wonderful capsule collection. It started with a tiny idea. It became a beautiful moodboard. It became a creative, collaborative vision. And I'm really proud of the collection we have today.

THE MATTHEW WILLIAMSON x FREE PEOPLE COLLECTION

How has living in Mallorca and your home and Casa Sera shaped the colour, mood and spirit of the collection?
When I was designing this collection with Free People at the forefront of my mind, I was thinking of my new store in Deià in Mallorca. It's called Casa Seventy-One, and I tried to dream up the most perfect collection to be in that store. A European girl on the holiday of a lifetime—what was she packing in her case? These are the key pieces you need for that perfect summer holiday.

Can you walk us through how a piece begins for you now? Does it start with a painting, a colour, a place?
What I've really noticed of late when designing is that my instinct is so important and valuable in the process. I have a sort of sixth-sense instinct when I'm given a brief or a project—whether it's to design a dress, an interior, a rug, or a lampshade. I really tend to trust my judgment now, my first instinct.

What is your favourite piece from the collection?
There are lots of great pieces in this collection, but if I had to pick a favourite, I'd choose what I'm calling the Hand-Painted Palm Gown. It's a gorgeous dress that came from a painting I'd done. It has twisted straps and a low back. It's really effortless—an easy piece for summer. And it harks back to one of the dresses I did in my own collection—we have that gown in the archive at Battersea Power Station. It was called the Parachute Gown, and it was one of our most popular pieces. I have really fond memories of it. So this piece feels like a modern interpretation of that dress. I love that connection.

A DESIGNER, NOT A FASHION DESIGNER

Why do you think your work resonates today with a new generation?
My work still has resonance with women of all ages because I see myself more as a designer of clothing, not necessarily fashion. I've never followed trends. I've never really been about the latest, hottest thing. There's a timelessness to the work I do. This collection is meant to endure and last. These aren't pieces to pick up and throw away. They're pieces I hope women will gravitate towards, cherish, and wear year after year after year. They're pieces for a lifetime.

What do people tell you when they talk about your pieces?
People often come up to me and say, "Ah, I bought one of your dresses, and I had the best time in that dress." Then they start to tell me about that occasion. It could be a daughter's wedding. It could be a beach party in Ibiza, or wherever it is in the world. They come and they talk about the memory — because when they put the clothes on, they feel like a firefly. They feel their most beautiful. And other women and men come up to them and talk to them about the clothing. So that's what I'm trying to do — bring that sense of joy in the work that I create.

THE FIREFLY, ON HIS MOTHER

When I was about ten or eleven, my mum and dad had a garden party. Everyone came into the back garden—couples, men, women—about forty people. I was the waiter for the night, in a little dicky-bow. And my mum wasn't there. I said, "Where's my mum?" She was upstairs, waiting for the moment to come down and greet her guests.

When she came down, she had this plunging neckline, this deep V, bright red lips. A brown tie-dye jersey silk gown to the floor. And six-inch cork wedges with a red painted crossbar top. She walked into that room, and I watched what happened. Every single woman in that room—who was either in black or grey—clocked her, with her curled hair and her red lips. And every single man in that garden clocked her too, in a very different way. But they all clocked her.

I remember thinking, "Wow—that's really powerful, what you've just done." You've come into this garden and you've owned it. The clothing you've chosen to put on—she knew how to be this firefly in the room. She captured everyone's attention. And that was what started me as a designer—knowing that clothing can have a real, positive impact on your personality, your character. That's really why I did what I did.

She didn't have any money. She'd spent weeks and weeks of work to buy that dress. But I knew that was within her power—to get her further. So if I can make women feel the way she felt, I can just try to excel at that and have the same effect. Now when a woman comes up to me in the store and says, "You dressed me," I think—it really is a full circle.

She worked in an optician's. The optician hired her because she was properly done—nails, jewellery, earrings, the lot. So when you came in for your eyes to be tested and got your prescription, you'd be met with my mum, and you trusted her because of how she appeared. She'd say, "Let me look at your face–try those on." And then she worked at a jewellery counter and did the same thing. So that's why I do what I do. I noticed it lifted her. It changed her life—what she put on.

THE FIRST SHOW: 1997

The first collection I ever did was in 1997. I made eleven outfits. I used to travel to India back and forth–that's a whole other story. We made this little capsule collection. We couldn't really afford the seats at the show, or cameramen, or sound. We just cobbled it together. But we happened to have Kate Moss as one of the models.

To this day, people ask me, "How did you do that?"—with such a quizzical look, as if there was some plan. My response was, and still is: she just really liked the clothes. She knew she looked good in them. She knew to jump onto it.

My mum came backstage and saw the show, and saw everyone gravitate—all the press, the whole thing. She just said, "You've done it. And I'm not surprised." I knew, because of watching her—it was training.

The night before work, the evenings were quite precious. At six o'clock we'd have dinner, and then my mum would go upstairs and say, "I'm going to get ready." She'd run the bath. She'd lay her jewellery out. She'd pick her lipstick. She'd take her nail polish off and reapply. Then she'd hang her outfit on the wardrobe door. And I would sit on the end of her bed watching her. I was fascinated, because this was her hour. This was her moment—part of her ritual. We'd have a little chat, and I'd challenge her—"Why are you going to wear that jacket if you're wearing those shoes?" She was quite clear on what she was going to do. I just became fascinated with the process. I loved that transformative quality.

She knew I could draw. She knew I could paint. The other kids were playing football, and I'd stay in and paint. She nurtured it—not pushy, but she knew it was special. So together, we harnessed this thing that we thought was quite rare.

CREATIVE SPIRIT

On the word "creative spirit…"
Ultimately, I'm a designer who designs for—I feel like a creative spirit, and I design for creative spirits. I love women who gravitate to my clothes because I think they have an artistic, creative sensibility. That's when I'm at my happiest. BOHEMIAN

What does the word bohemian mean to you?
I think it's overused, and it's become caricatured. It's very "Camden flower crown." But to me—Bohemia — for me it's a sort of carefree, relaxed, laid-back sense of luxury and glamour. It's "I care, I want to dress up, I want to express myself"—but somehow it's barefoot and undone. It's giving attention to how you look, but perhaps taking one thing off, taking your sandals off, and it being a much freer sense of fashion. It's not restricted. It's not tailored. It's not structured. It just feels more free-flowing and effortless.