ONE DESIGNER, TWO MAJOR LUXURY BRANDS, AND THE CEASELESS VISION OF RETRO AND GENDER-PLAY INSPIRATION THAT INSPIRE JONATHAN ANDERSON AND HIS RUNWAY CREATIONS FOR SUMMER 2015
BY SARAH DE BRUN
It is not even outré any more, let alone outlandish, for women to sport an androgynous to slightly mannish wardrobe. From Marlene Dietrich’s classic man-cut suit improvisations to the fedora trend of last fall, innumerable fashion arcs and icons exist because of the restless, alluring battle that happens when the feminine form competes with straight suit lines. Rarely, however, are we presented with the obverse: men’s styles informed by the XX chromosome crowd. This novel course is what sets Jonathan Anderson’s designs apart, and is a topic that remains a jumping off point for any writer penning a piece about his career.
Anderson is a self-described child of the ’80s (a decade he frequently pulls influences from), the product of small town Northern Ireland (Magherafelt, to be exact) where kids would pour over fashion magazines and dream of a fabulous world beyond the shores of nearby Lough Neagh. As a teen, he attended London’ s National Youth Music Theatre, and thereafter Washington, D.C.’s Studio Theatre. An early love of drama led him to both schools, but London called him back, specifically Old Street’s London College of Fashion. While studying there, he worked as a visual merchandiser for Prada where he met Miuccia Prada’s collaborator, the late Manuela Pavesi, who encouraged Anderson to embark upon his own line.
Come 2008, J.W. Anderson launched, consisting solely of menswear. Two years later, womenswear was added, after heightened praise of a capsule collection composed of ladies accessories. Though both lines were and are constructed on a unisex foundation, they encompass distinct personalities. Womenswear snags up boyish undertones, matronly silhouettes, and masculine textures, while menswear pulls from girlie details like ruffles, cropped hemlines, and billowy shapes. Hitting a cord with fashion world insiders and celebrities like Alexa Chung and Kate Bosworth helped elevate the company, and in September of 2010, the English menswear brand Sunspel snagged Anderson as its creative director and has since collaborated in a merging line, Sunspel x J.W. Anderson. As if that wasn’t sufficient, Topshop has launched two collections with Anderson in 2012 and 2013, and an even wider exposure was offered in May of 2013 when J.W. Anderson released a capsule collection for Versus. The overtly sexy brand (overseen by none other than Donatella Versace) was a surprising choice for Anderson’s unique clothing, but the two brands married brilliantly.
While J.W. Anderson thrived in its fifth year since conception, LVMH Moet Hennessy opted to invest in the namesake brand, a deal that was followed by Anderson being appointed Creative Director for Madrid’s cherished luxurious leather brand Loewe in 2013. The somewhat reserved and traditional fashion house took a risk in selecting such a young director, but sales have been up a stunning 380% since he has filled the seat.
Both Summer 2015 collections from Loewe and J.W. Anderson bounce similarities off one another, including supple leather trousers, throwback hues that take us back to our grandparents’ wood-paneled living room, and nautical rope and button details.
For womenswear, we envision a golden-haired Chloe Sevigny dipping out onto the streets of Paris, low profile from the paps in a floppy-brimmed hat and A-line shift dress. Menswear evokes an Eddie Redmayne type, cuffed wide-legged trousers and suede polos, galavanting at sundown on the Brighton boardwalk overlooking the English Channel. Each Anderson look for this season is an exaggerated moment that remains somehow ambiguous in time; he creates collections that are nostalgic and somewhat genderneutral, yet just modern enough to thrive in a diversity of lifestyles.
What more could any designer want than to build a wardrobe for customers that will be forever relevant, no matter the decade…or gender role?
