Form, fashion, function: Ma.strum enters German market for SS24 season

British menswear brand Ma.strum is taking its first steps on the German market. With their utilitarian design and innovative, functional material, Ma.strum shows great potential to cater for the German customer who values functionality and quality.

Ma.strum was originally launched in 2008 as a partnership with the Massimo Osti Archive - an archive dedicated to its namesake late fashion designer and ‘garment engineer’ who is widely known for his innovative and technical approach to fashion. With his original brand Stone Island he brought the concept of military-inspired apparel and the importance of research and development in fashion to a new level.

Although Ma.strum has been independent from the Massimo Osti Archive since 2011, their designers are still largely inspired by Stone Island’s approach to fashion. But inspiration also comes from outside their own circles: with its similarly technical approach but a more visible touch of luxury and lifestyle, the Italian outerwear brand Moncler serves as an inspiration as well.

As such, Ma.strum’s SS23 collection features a selection of light outerwear that can be layered and combined with their selection of overshirts and polos to create looks that are ideal for the Northern European change of seasons and mid-temperature weather. Trousers and shorts show distinctive technical features, including drawstrings, zippers and cargo pockets. While the designs are reminiscent of Stone Islands’ apparel, which has grown popular in Germany in recent years, Ma.strums looks distinguish themselves with a more casual and slightly trendier realisation.

Inverted product development as the key to innovative garments

‘Form follows function’ is a longstanding design principle in architecture and industrial design, where shapes and lines of an object reflect its intended purpose. Ma.strum takes this concept a step further by applying it to fashion: the product development process starts with the purpose of the garment.

Herein, Ma.strum implements research and development, in which the brand sounds out possibilities to improve the design of the garments, their materials and their longevity. This inverted product development process leads to a meticulous engineering process, pushing forward designs that consider how the wearer engages with and is protected by their garment. Ma.strum favours quality over quantity, sticking to collections with few but well-developed pieces that will last, made from materials such as nylon and cotton. They continuously adapt their garments, improving them from season to season to reach their highest potential. Colourwise, Ma.strum sticks to industrial neutrals, sporting black, grey, blue and khaki hues with occasional colour pops in orange, turquoise or lime green.