For JW Anderson SS24, Johnathan Anderson looks to household objects for a collection that elevates the ordinary.
While Anderson’s personal uniform isn’t as sensational as his designs — typically in a pair of standard jeans, a sweater and a jacket — he put on a new look for his finale bow of his Spring/Summer 24 collection. The designer wore the new mint uniform of the Irish national team for the next Rugby World Cup as a nod to his father, who was the captain of Ireland’s Rugby Union team. This sweetness and sentimentality in tribute was found throughout the Spring/Summer 24 JW Anderson collection as he explored themes of domesticity and how everyday objects subconsciously shape the way we are — allowing us a preview into his adolescent years.
A master of balancing concept with commerce, this collection was made up of familiar pieces turned askew. That meant using household items that surround our every day, subconsciously informing how we perceive things and how they seemingly become a part of us. In following with that concept, what lies in this collection are looks that teeter on the lines of objects, garments, and possibly even art. The show opened with a classic rugby shirt made puffed, paired with shorts that looked like they had room for a third leg through a swathe fabric jutting by the side. A look that was possibly pulled from Anderson’s wardrobe when he was a schoolboy, it carried a child-like naivety yet was made completely modern through its details and execution.
While silhouettes were kept simple, textures made the garments feel larger than life, continuing with an insouciance that brought back childhood nostalgia. In keeping to raw materials, Anderson had the majority of the collection done in knit. The man who popularised knitting during the height of lockdown further exercised his expertise with tops resembling mop heads, tubular bolsters snaking up the body of sweaters and dresses, as well as a top made out of literal balls of yarn. Other looks had leather coats that mimicked the cracked textures of an aged and much-beloved armchair and the buttress of fabric found by the side of shorts also emerges by the front of cotton shirts, draping elegantly.
Prints followed the overgrown nature of the blue and white stripes from the Cornish teapot — that was distributed as an invitation and that stripes decorated the runway — with gold and silver oversized polka-dots embellishing an asymmetrical top. Accessories echoed similar sentiments to the garments. Casual totes were made in a nubbly weave which took inspiration from a sofa in Anderson’s office. Mules and clogs dominated in the footwear front, where large platform clogs grounded the youthful ensembles in reality, paws escaped and were seen prancing down the runway embellished at the front of derbies and mules.
Through elevating the every day, Anderson has the rare talent of finding a conceptual angle in what we would think to be prosaic; designing garments that feel irreverent and inventive in a time where fashion maybe takes itself too seriously. It would not be wise to expect anything less from a JW Anderson show except for clothes that challenge our perception — and that is what makes it all so exhilarating.
Once you’re done with this story on JW Anderson, click here to catch up with our June/July 2023 issue!
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