In 2020, Jonathan Anderson’s work at both his namesake label and at Loewe took a curious turn. Clutch bags were cast in the shape of pigeons, smashed skateboards were shoved down the front of T-shirts, and gigantic allium flowers became clothing amid several seasons of Wonka-esque invention. Since his start in 2008, the designer’s approach has always been shrewdly off-kilter, but this journey into the surreal was new – brought on, no doubt, by a creative confidence that only years spent shaping the identity of two of fashion’s most important brands could possibly nurture. “I like this idea of humour in clothing,” he told Vogue’s Sarah Mower at the time. “Because fashion is meant to make you think, or dream.”
Shown last night (January 15) at Milan Men’s Fashion Week, the designer’s Autumn/Winter 2024 collection for JW Anderson marked a departure from this period of childlike whimsy to more sophisticated themes, though fantasy, and a wry wit, were still very much present. The collection was inspired by the plush 1990s interiors of Stanley Kubrick’s sensual psychodrama Eyes Wide Shut, which were created by the auteur’s wife, Christiane Kubrick. Unveiled to a seductive jazzy soundtrack, the collection’s opening looks saw boys in soft cashmere jumpers, trad loafers and 15-denier tights – no trousers – come down the runway, with poinsettia rosettes winking at the film’s claustrophobic Christmas-time setting.
Blending the “cosy and perverse”, the collection that followed cleverly drew upon the tense domestic world of Kubrick’s final feature. Loungewear and stilettos, crimson velvets and sheeny satins, pillowy padding and curtain-like drapery converged to blend a louche sexiness with a feeling of suffocation. In many ways, it felt like a return to the roots of Anderson’s label, where designs that mash gender binaries and skew traditional shapes have always set him apart. In particular, a pair of skimpy bloomers from under which cushions of silk exploded were reminiscent of the frilly shorts and bustiers of his pivotal A/W13 collection, which bravely blended masculine and feminine dress long before it was the norm in menswear. Beautiful and brilliantly off, Anderson’s Milan show last night had something of the same electric feel – a disruptive designer at his sharpest edge.
Here, to coincide with the show, five of JW Anderson’s most devoted followers tell us why they love wearing his clothes.
Alvaro Barrington, Artist
“I consider Jonathan a friend. We got introduced through one of my art dealers and he bought one of my paintings. We started hanging out, and I was like, ‘Well, if this guy is buying my paintings, I should see what he does for a living.’ That’s how I became aware of the brand.
“The first item of Jonathan’s I owned was a fuchsia hoodie. I wore it in my studio almost every day for a year straight. I think there was a moment that every time Jonathan saw me I was wearing that hoodie, and I could tell that after a while he was like, ‘What the fuck?’ It was a really great, light fuchsia. Colours are just wonderful to try and incorporate in your daily life, and when you have the right colour that pops out, it’s just the best. I still love it.
“Right now I’m really into the JW Anderson x Wellipets [frog loafers]. I wear them in my studio. I’m always trialling new studio shoes looking for the perfect pair, and every couple of years I’m like, ‘Ah man, this is it.’ I try to wear uniforms, as I’m at the stage in my life where if I notice what I’m wearing, then it doesn’t feel organic to me. I have friends that are designers but the pieces they make don’t necessarily feel like they fit with my uniform. [In Anderson’s clothes], I’m in my uniform.”
“Even though he leans into this oddness, it’s amazing that he still manages to create pieces that are really desirable – things that you really want to wear and that you feel good wearing” – Dominic Cadogan
Luis Venegas, Editor and Publisher
“The first piece of JW Anderson I owned was of those knit wool neck scarves with a frontal zip and a huge plastic puller. The JW Anderson press team offered it to me years ago and I’m still using it this winter. It’s a timeless piece that adds a twist to any look and it’s quite functional, easy to carry.
“Jonathan has the ability to put together surprising collaborations and also design teams who develop great ideas. He also often gives new life to obscure fashion references, bringing them back as if they were a new idea. The A/W13 menswear collection with the famous shorts with frills always stands out to me. It was quite feminine-looking at that time, and in fact, the brand revisited those items and silhouettes recently, ten years later. The capsule collection he did for Versus Versace in 2014 [is also a favourite]. I think Jonathan was particularly inspired during those years, his energy felt fresh then. [Today], the brand keeps mesmerising its audience, developing collections that keep his community entertained and amused.”
Dominic Cadogan, Editor
“I bought some of Jonathan’s pieces very early on, before he even started at Loewe. In some of the early collections, he was doing a motif where there was a cocoon-y, wrapped, sling-type thing that would go around one arm. I had two of those. I remember seeing it in the campaign and thinking, ‘Oh my god, this is incredible.’ Jonathan has always stood out to me because people weren’t really taking risks like he was in the menswear at the time. I always liked that his work was a bit off-kilter and had this blend of masculine and feminine.
“As he’s become a bigger designer, it’s still those kinds of pieces that I look out for. I recently bought a pinstripe silk shirt on Vestiaire that looks kind of like an ordinary shirt, but then one of the sleeves has this cape cut. There’s always a touch of oddness – an off-kilter element that makes you think.
“I feel like something happened to him – I mean, something happened to all of us during 2020 – but I feel like something specifically happened with his creativity as a designer. He has completely let loose with the surreal elements that he was bringing to fashion before. Even though he leans into this oddness, it’s amazing that he still manages to create pieces that are really desirable – things that you really want to wear and that you feel good wearing.”
“The beauty of his clothes is that even if it’s just a simple sweater, it generally has some sort of twist that makes it way cooler than the average piece” – Mirko Pedone
Mirko Pedone, Fashion Editor and Stylist
“I got to know the brand when I was studying. What Jonathan was doing really resonated with my aesthetics and what was inspiring me in the fashion industry. He was one of the first designers to really push the genderless approach, and he’s been very consistent in the ten years since. He’s changed the narrative and I think we all really owe Jonathan a lot for that.
“I have a funny story about a T-shirt I own from his S/S18 Pitti collection. It says ‘Militant men wear JW Anderson … The brand that loves back.’ I was so in love with that T-shirt. I wore it when I was prepping a show for another brand, who I won’t name, and the designer came up to me and said, ‘I really love your T-shirt, but is it OK if you don’t wear it today?’ I was like, ‘Oh fuck!’ When you’re really attached to something, it’s hard to see how it might not be the right time and place to wear it.
“The beauty of his clothes is that even if it’s just a simple sweater, it generally has some sort of twist that makes it way cooler than the average piece. Wearing the brand, you feel part of a community. It’s not one of those unachievable brands where being part of that dream is impossible because the clothes are so unwearable or out of reach. There’s a good balance between affordability and wearability. His clothes make you feel confident but also comfortable, like being who you are, just owning who you are.”
Antonio Pignone, PR
“JW Anderson is the brand I wear the most and it’s the brand I talk about the most. The first time I really became aware of Jonathan was the A/W13 show. It was during my last year of uni and I just remember seeing it and being like, ‘Oh my God.’ It was the first time I felt excited about menswear. I changed the entire concept for my dissertation and decided I was going do it on him. A couple of days later, his second Topshop collaboration dropped. There’s a jumper in the A/W13 collection that, I kid you not, I still think about once a month. I went to the Rebel exhibition at the Design Museum not too long ago, and it was the first time that I’d actually been in a room with any of the pieces from the A/W13 collection … I didn’t move for about 15 minutes.
“While I think his ideas are big and expansive, and he’s thinking about things in a big way, I do think that there’s such a sense of fun in his clothes. Some of my favourite pieces that I own are the ones where, when I walk down the street, people will give me a look. I have this huge striped shirt that’s from the Tom of Finland collaboration, which has a print of this muscle queen in a jockstrap, legs spread, emblazoned on the front. I love wearing that shirt out. I’ve actually had people on the tube tut at me before. What he does that is so clever, he creates things that are quite bombastic and really in your face, and then sometimes you get pieces that have these small details that are blink-and-you-miss-it beautiful. You might not necessarily spot them, but I know they’re there. There’s something about that that I really like.
“Jonathan’s clothes are clever, they’re interesting, but I actually don’t think they’re particularly intimidating. As a man who’s not super tall and super skinny, JW Anderson is one of the very few brands that I can rely on. I’m not intimidated to go into the store. I also think there’s something about how Jonathan dresses that I love – the fact that he just wears jumpers, jeans and a good pair of shoes. Some days, I’m like ‘I’ll be like Jonathan, let’s just throw that jumper on.’ His clothes make me feel great.”