Chicology Magazine

During the summer, we often find our thoughts wandering to new hobbies and side hustles to try. For some, these could be as common as thrift flipping (read our story to learn more about that here), but others seek out more long-term opportunities. In the upcoming months, if you are looking to get creative and expand your horizons, you may be interested in picking up an instrument instead of picking out an outfit. Sometimes our interests change; they don’t have to stay consistent. 

So, if you find yourself in a place where music calls to you more than fashion does, reach out to Matisse Records, a young, women-owned record label looking to grow and get fresh talent on the map. I had the pleasure of interviewing Fayona Matisse, the CEO and owner of Matisse Records, asking about her label’s background, her creative perspective, and her views on fashion in the music industry. 

● What were the early days of the label like, and how did you get everything off the ground? 

To tell the honest truth, I’m still getting MaRe (Matisse Records) off the ground. Everyday is about working hard and completing the smallest of tasks from reposting a potential client’s story on instagram or putting out a new design for social media to putting out an ad on LinkedIn for new internship positions. The most early days of MaRe, they were just ideas back in 2022 and I wasn’t sure if it was something I could commit to at the time. I put it off for a year and a half and in the summer of my senior year at Berklee, that’s when I said “OK. Let’s see what I can get done in the summer” because I was taking 10-11 classes each semester and I barely had time to keep up my grades and do extra curriculars such as clubs and working. After I graduated in May 2025, I finally said, “Where do I want this to go?” And I decided I was ready to commit. I worked with a couple of artists who taught me a lot about how I need to run MaRe being a team of one at the time. My now-fiance had a huge hand in helping me plan out the next 5 years of MaRe and he gave and continues to give me so much confidence and advice and support that I will forever be grateful for. To this day, I have so many more levels to get off the ground in a sense, but I’d say the first level is floating up 10 feet in the air. 

● How much do you collaborate with your artists on their visual identity versus letting them lead the way? 

I think that especially if the artist already has some really great ideas or already has an established identity, I try to incorporate those ideas as much as I can while also forming their image to the ideas of MaRe. Every artist has an aesthetic to their identity as a musician, singer songwriter or any other title under the umbrella of artist and I’m the person who fine tunes that aesthetic. But if a client doesn’t have that clear vision, then I definitely get inspired by other artists and unique concepts to make that client a new face but as authentic to that artist’s personality and identity as possible. There will always be room for improvement especially as the artist evolves in both music and brand identity. 

● Do you find that the music your label produces follows the same stylistic waves as fashion cycles? (90s, Y2K, 2016, etc.) 

I find that the music that MaRe promotes —and what it’s moving toward producing—definitely follows the same stylistic waves as fashion cycles, like the constant return of 90s or Y2K. But what feels different now is that those cycles aren’t really happening all at once in the same way. Instead, different online communities are each tapping into their own specific era —whether that’s something like a 90s slip dress, early 2000s low-rise jeans, or even 70s flared pants—and artists tend to emulate whatever that particular space is gravitating toward or a special connection that the artist has to that culture era and draws in fans of similar tastes. 

Because of that, you end up with multiple “revivals” happening at the same time, just in different corners of the internet. I’ve also noticed that the resurgence of tangible media—like vinyl or cassettes—often lines up with those choices. It’s not just about the sound, but about building a full aesthetic or identity that

includes how the music is consumed, the visuals, and even fashion. So it all kind of feeds into the same cycle, just in a more fragmented way than before. 

● With platforms like TikTok and Instagram, how has the importance of a song’s ‘look’ changed your signing process? 

At MaRe, I acknowledge that TikTok and Instagram are the and I mean THE places to discover new artists but that’s not how I want MaRe to go about discovering and signing new artists. There’s a huge saying: “Not everything on social media is what it seems. Look at the person behind the screen” and that’s what MaRe is all about, face to face interactions. When looking at an artist we’d like to sign, the first thing isn’t looking at the amount of followers, it’s looking at the comments and their content. Everyone who works hard and has talent has potential to be a star and I don’t want to compare a new talent to an A-lister unless that’s who they personally aspire to be with their own personal style and their social media content will reflect that along with their production and writing choices in their music. But in the future, a goal I have for MaRe is to go back to CD submissions for potential signing artists. To me, it’s much more personal than sending a link through texts and just basically saying “Here’s the fastest way I’m going to send you my music.” You can have 1000 artists send you a link or file but to feel a CD in your fingers, feels like the work that that artist has manifested and worked their butt off for, right in the palm of your hands is electrifying. 

● What is the ‘next big thing’ in the music-fashion world that people aren’t paying attention to yet? 

There’s always going to be different opinions on what the “next big thing” is for both music and fashion, but I think it’s more about noticing the smaller signals before they fully hit the mainstream. In 2025–2026, that seems to look like a shift toward more refined, archival-inspired fashion—references to older eras and technology, like 50s structured tailoring and cinched waists, alongside 70s and 80s silhouettes like flared trousers and bold shoulders, reinterpreted in a more polished and intentional way—connecting those eras to modern ideas of stability and longevity in fashion. 

There’s also a renewed interest in tangible media like vinyl and cassettes as a way to support artists more directly, but approached with a more curated mindset rather than pure nostalgia, alongside growing awareness of how larger companies in both industries often exploit smaller creators for profit. At the same time, both industries are starting to push back against the speed of AI. When everything can be generated instantly, it makes people value quality, authorship, and intention more. So instead of one specific trend, I think the “next big thing” is a shift toward polished, archival influence combined with a more conscious, human-focused approach to creation—something that feels both current and built to last.

● How do you use fashion as a tool for power or expression as a woman in a leadership role? 

I actually have always been in love with how a woman’s fashion choices can have a simple message “make or break” and that’s what this industry essentially does to artists of all genders, make or break them, simple but powerful and intense. As a younger woman in a leadership role, I think there’s also an interesting layer of age perception in both industries, where experience and youth are often read very differently through presentation. For me, fashion is pretty instinctive—it’s less about a strict strategy and more about how I feel in a room. Sometimes that means being very polished and intentional, and other times it’s more understated. I see it as another form of communication and confidence. That said, I’m definitely in a phase where I want to refine my wardrobe more and be intentional with it, while still keeping it authentic rather than overly constructed. At the same time, I think both music and fashion are slowly becoming more open to different age ranges of influence, which is shifting how leadership and presence are perceived. 

● I noticed you have some “big changes” coming to your label. What is one word to describe these changes and why? 

One word to describe the changes I’m making to my label is maturing. I’ve had this record label for so long, I think about 3 years now, and I’ve taken some baby steps but with the work-life balance I have and my ADHD taking over at times, and the 20 songs I have ready for production, but no producer, all I’ve been trying to do is get my life to mature. And right now my label needs to do the same thing, we need to get our name out there, I need to have a team of more than just 3, while I’m working with great people, it’s time for us to grow. I also didn’t want to sound too cliche with the answer of growth because while that’s essentially a factor in maturing, I need to get my shit together before we can grow and that’s what this year is about, making and sticking with decisions and showing our clients, we are mature as a business and will take them and their goals not just seriously, but to levels beyond what we originally contemplated on. Me and my prose are ready to see our artists and business mature. 

So, if you are a young artist looking for representation or simply wish to get involved in the music industry, reach out to Matisse Records at matisserecordsofficial@gmail.com, or Instagram DM @matisserecordsofficial!