Matthew Patrick, known online as MatPat, returned to YouTube from his semi-retirement Thursday night (Apr. 25) to host what Theorist Media hoped would be the pilot edition of Style Theory's "Creators in Fashion" runway show.
Patrick—who still presents a fifth Theorist Media channel, GTLive—was joined by new Style Theory presenter Amy Roberts. The show featured online influencers and their brands, such as Laura Bailey (Critical Role), Cassey Ho (Blogilates), ZHC, and Yes Theory.
Theorist Media also featured some of its brand apparel, Theorywear, including those inspired by the game "Five Nights at Freddy's" (FNAF), which became a staple for Game Theory during Patrick's stint as host.
According to MatPat, "Creators in Fashion"—sponsored by Shopify—is a first-of-its-kind historic online event aimed at bridging gaming culture and couture clothing, which also meant the show was a collaboration between two of Theorist Media's four YouTube channels, The Game Theorists (now hosted by British presenter Tom Robinson) and The Style Theorists.
"'Creators in Fashion' is all about breaking down the stigma that exists in the style and fashion space," Patrick said at the pre-show red carpet event.
"It's one of those things that feels like you have to be a certain type of person, live in a certain community, certain part of the world, or have a certain income set...."
"And the goal of 'Creators in Fashion' is to slowly break down that stigma one at a time, piece by piece," he added. "Because, at the end of the day, fashion is for everyone. It can be made by anyone, and anyone should have the opportunity to stomp down a runway looking absolutely fabulous."
Prior to the runway show, Distractify had an exclusive interview with Patrick, who described the event similarly.
"We wanted to create an event that was unique for the digital space and served as fashion week for online influencers and online brands," he said, adding that the concept came alongside the launch of Style Theory.
"Creators in Fashion was built from the ground up as a platform and a spotlight for creator entrepreneurs who are doing just incredible stuff in the style fashion and apparel space," MatPat added.
In addition to Roberts's major involvement in the show—including running on the runway herself as the first model—Food Theory presenter Santi Massa and several Theorist Media team members also walked the runway.
At the same time, Robinson and Film Theory host Forrest Lee were interviewed by Patrick on the red carpet.
By the show's end, Roberts announced that Theorist media would "retire" the brand Theorywear.
"At this point, we have really evolved all of our products far beyond the idea of normal merch, and we really want to elevate to the next level of what Theorist can be," she said prior to launching a new collection under their new clothing label, "Lumen."
"[A]t this point, we're more than just theories. And we're working to take our line to a new level," Roberts added, mentioning that the group has been working with "mega-franchises" like FNAF, "Dune," "Godzilla," and "Poppy Playtime."
According to Roberts, Lumen was "designed by and for people who are passionate about fictional worlds, both real and make-believe."
She also described the new line, sponsored by YouTube shopping, as a "lover of a lot of color."
Those who missed the live show can watch the event here or in the embedded video below.
