For Spring-Summer 18, darling of British fashion J.W. Anderson was invited to show as guest at Pitti Uomo, in Florence. What happened there was somewhat of a shock, but not for the reasons one might expect.
Indeed, Anderson who is known as one of today’s most avant-garde designers decided to go against the grind and present a collection devoted to basics. Focusing on the staples of a man’s wardrobe Jonathan Anderson delivered his most commercial offering yet. Normalcy versus hyper-fashionability, that was a twist no one saw coming. The uniform du jour was a combination of tee shirt, bermuda shorts and flip flops. It had all the nonchalance of a day strolling around the streets of Florence, gelato in hand. From breton stripes to a quirky cute heart print, from anchor logo jumpers to a Converse collab… This collection added a new key word to the JWA vocabulary: wearable.
Of course, Anderson didn’t completely forget his roots and they were still plenty of his usual idiosyncracies at play here. For instance, reworking his own logo into a riff on Coca Cola branding is pure JWA subversiveness. Fashion is all about newness and, in JW’s case, this felt like something we had never seen before. Fresh and simple. Not too shabby for a brand that is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
Words by Martin Noives