Fashion takes itself seriously. Worth £21billion to the economy and employing almost 900,000 people in the UK, it should do. JW Anderson knows it’s a serious business – despite being framed as a female-focused frippery in some circles. Eye roll.
During each fashion capital’s carousel of biannual fashion shows, London is known for being home to young designers that rely on the wildness of their talent, creating raw collections that sometimes lack finesse yet always major on passion. However, the hottest name one season can drop off the schedule and melt into the wider fashion landscape the next…
Sometimes, though, a designer will score the golden ticket, moving their creations into the fabled sweet spot where concept meets commerciality and they will rise beyond the days of showing in car parks to unlock elite level. In the fashion world, that equates to heading up a European house and becoming part of the LFW fashion firmament.
Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson has done just that in his role as Creative Director of Loewe (responsible for the most coveted bags on your FYP) while also heading up his own eponymous brand and creating waitlist worthy collections for Uniqlo.
Even the busiest talents need to let of steam sometimes so we’re relieved to see that simple play seems to be JW Anderson’s R&R of choice. Show-goers received a block of plasticine along with their invitations and the significance became clear as the first looks exited onto the runway. Shaped away from the body, chic grey shorts were made in moulded clay with a similarly sculptured hoodie in colour-pop orange…
Victor VIRGILE
Victor VIRGILE
It was weird and wonderful and while those quirky separates called to be squeezed (and maybe sniffed – who else dreams about that nostalgic play-school plasticine smell?) the collection moved on to some of the most useful – yet exquisite – clothes we saw throughout the whole of LFW. A navy V-neck knit came with ruched satin panels under the arms. Double-breasted blazers had sleeves long enough to curl your hands into. Evening skirts were constructed of layers of glimmering woven sequin strips.