JW Anderson show highlights designer’s love of craft at London fashion week
One of the first things that people familiar with Jonathan Anderson’s work will note is that the designer, 39, loves craft – and it was a love apparent from the first look at his latest collection, which he showed at Seymour Leisure Centre in London on Sunday morning.
The background din of squash balls being thwacked against walls gave way to music as the first model appeared wearing a sculptural, bulbous woollen miniskirt and top, arranged like a braided loaf but more the colour of butter than bread. Craft rose again in skirts made of green and yellow ribbons that came down in tendrils, with bunches of waxed flowers at the waist.
In an interview with the industry publication Women’s Wear Daily before the show, Anderson told of his plans for a more down-to-earth aesthetic, a move away from any kind of meme-dressing that has come to dominate fashion in recent years, and which he himself has been no stranger to, creating a number of witty designs that have gone viral. He is to thank for the £795 resin clutch bag in the likeness of a pigeon that was recently spotted on the arm of Sarah Jessica Parker, and the reinterpretation of wellipets, the 90s wellies in the likeness of frogs.
This was a more grounded collection, but, he made clear, it was not about a mood of “quiet luxury”. Speaking to a huddle of press after the show, he named “the woman next door, the nosy neighbour”, but slightly twisted, as a reference point. He was thinking, he said, about “a time of nosy neighbours and the person looking through the fence”. In an apparent nod to social media, the frenetic churn of which he has spoken of struggling with, he conceded that now “we’re nosy in other ways”.
He talked of moving to something more pragmatic this season, and the clothes struck a neat balance between the spectacle you expect from a highfashion collection in 2024 and practical clothes it would be possible to wear in everyday life if money were no object.
Having played with proportions for his last collection at the Roundhouse in London, which featured exaggerated hoodies and shorts made of plasticine, he didn’t shy away from the odd wonky proportion with this collection either, via enormous overcoats with giant sleeves. But there were also practical knitted jumpers and collared dresses.
Footwear was comfort-first; squaretoed sheepskin-lined slipper boots, all in sensible black and browns. Pointelle underwear reminiscent of primary school was layered up into single garments with various waistbands and the tiny bows that you might expect from M&S clothes, which he also noted was a reference.
Practicality was also there in a more commercial sense. Respected for being both a bold designer and a savvy businessman, Anderson’s collection featured accessories that are sure to be a hit at the tills. Bags came in smart, sturdy leather or, again, were craft-centric, in cable-knit designs.
Knitted dresses had a heaviness that he said “was going more towards interiors materials, things that a felt a bit more robust”. And the world of interiors again muscled its way in via the straps of otherwise delicate, sheer dresses, which were made out of the kind of tassels you might usually find holding back a heavy curtain.
Anderson, who was born in Northern Ireland and now divides his time between London, where he designs for his namesake brand, and Paris, where he is creative director of the LVMHowned Spanish luxury label Loewe, is one of a bevy of designers from the UK who has global standing. Following the announcement that he will be an honorary chair of fashion’s most razzmatazz party, the 2024 Met Gala, the guestlist was suitably starry and interesting. Guests included artists and photographers such as Juergen Teller and Tracy Emin, actors Minnie Driver, Asa Butterfield, Keeley Hawes and Ruth Wilson, popstars such as Charli XCX, literary stars such as Zadie Smith, and fashion industry names such as Erin O’Connor, Halima Aden and Alexa Chung. Anna Wintour arrived promptly, entering through a back entrance.