Matthew Williams

Matthew Michael Williams (born October 17, 1985 in Evanston, Illinois) is an American designer, creative, and entrepreneur. Nicknamed “Dada” and "Matty Dada" by Lady Gaga when he was the first creative director of the Haus of Gaga (2008 to the fall of 2010). In 2015, he co-founded the fashion brand 1017 ALYX 9SM. Matthew was appointed creative director of Givenchy women's and men's collections in June 2020.

Early life

Williams was born in Chicago and grew up in California, where he was recruited to play soccer at the University of California in Santa Barbara. However, he dropped out after one semester and moved to New York to pursue fashion. At 19 years old, he was a production manager at the music and fashion label Corpus, founded by Keith Richardson (who later went on to found the label Mr. Completely).

Meeting Gaga

Williams met Gaga in a sushi restaurant in LA, where they became best friends and dated on-off for a year in 2008.

“	Dada is quite brilliant and we were crazy lovers, but I stopped it when we discovered what a strong creative connection we had. I didn’t want it just to be about careless love.	”
—Lady Gaga

Work with Lady Gaga

At first, Matthew was still working on various projects with Kanye West. During his free time, he designed clothes and props for Gaga’s live performances in 2008. One of his most known items is the disco stick. The main idea was that even in a dark club, Gaga could become the light source. At first, they were the main duo behind the Haus of Gaga along with Gaga's manager and staff. For her first world tour in 2009, Gaga hired Williams full time and by around the end of 2010, Williams left the Haus of Gaga. The music video for "Alejandro", the first Monster Ball Tour and "SUPREME x GAGA" were their final projects together.

Clothes and items

(Gallery needs to be expanded)

Latex jumpsuit

Disco Stick

Armor Sets (2009)

Concert tours

(List to be converted into a gallery)

• New Kids on the Block:Live (2008)
• Doll Domination Tour (2009)
• The Fame Ball (2009)
• The Fame Kills Starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga (cancelled, 2009)
• The Monster Ball: Theater & Arena (2009-2011)

Films

(List to be converted into a gallery)

• "Just Dance" (March 2008)
• "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich" (September 2008)
• "Poker Face" (October 2008)
• "LoveGame" (January 2009)
• "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" (January 2009)
• "Paparazzi" (April 2009)
• "Chillin" (May 2009)
• "Fashion Film" for Dazed Digital (June 2009)
• "Bad Romance" (October 2009)
• "Telephone" (January 2010)
• "Alejandro" (April 2010)

Photoshoots

Markus Klinko and Indrani ( 15 Jul, 2009)

Nobuyoshi Araki (Aug 5, 2009)

Hedi Slimane (Sep 5, 2009)

Hanna Liden
(Sep 14, 2009)

Max Abadian
(Sep 15, 2009)

Terry Richardson (Jun 7, 2010)

[1] LG x Supreme (2011)

Mario Testino (4 May, 2010) BTS

1. "SUPREME x GAGA was my last project I put together and art directed for her." (From Matthew William's Twitter)

Performances

MuchMusic Video Awards (Jun 21, 2009)

MTV Video Music Awards (Sep 13, 2009)

Photography

August 6-7, 13, 2009

(Aug 6, 2009)

Tokyo (Aug 7, 2009)

Summer Sonic (Aug 7, 2009)

China (Aug 13, 2009)

• Camera — D-LUX 3
• Camera manufacturer — Leica

Some of the previous pictures were used in these magazines and newspapers:

Interview Oct/Nov, 2009

Book of Gaga (2009)

September 5, 2009

Vogue Hommes Japan Vol. 4 (S/S 2010)

January 2010

Miami (2009)

New York (Jan 2010)

(2010)

(Jan 24, 2010)

Los Angeles (2010)

(Jan 31, 2010)

Some of the previous pictures were used in these magazines and newspapers:

V Summer 2010, No. 65

February 16, 2010

Visionaire Spirit: A Tribute To Lee Alexander McQueen (2010)

April 20, 2010: GAGAKOH

• Hair — Frederic Aspiras
• Make up — Tara Savelo

Published in Vogue Hommes Japan.

Other

(May 2008)

"Lady Gaga: From LA to Marselle" (Dec 1, 2008)

John Lindquist (Feb 13, 2009)

(Apr 1, 2009)

Pop Culture Parking Lot (May 2, 2009)

Angela Rowlings (May 4, 2009)

Matthew Rolston (May 12, 2009)

(Jun 2009)

(Jun 19, 2009)

(Jun 20, 2009)

[1] (Jun 21, 2009)

(Jun 29, 2009)

(Jun 30, 2009)

(Jul 8, 2009)

(Jul 9, 2009)

Markus Klinko and Indrani (Jul 15, 2009)

Nobuyoshi Araki (Aug 5, 2009)

(Aug 6, 2009)

(2009)

(Aug 17, 2009)

(Sept 13, 2009)

Max Abadian BTS (Sept 15, 2009)

SNL (Oct 3, 2009)

Nick Knight (Dec 6, 2009)

(Feb 5, 2010)

(Apr 17, 2010)

(Apr 27, 2010)

(May 8, 2010)

Wolfgang Tillmans (May 24, 2010)

1. Matthew wears a studded leather jacket by Leather King customized by Chris Maxwell, worn too by Gaga.

Links

• Instagram
• Profile on SHOWstudio

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