Will Jonathan Anderson spark a firestorm of debate on social media over his ridiculously baggy tweed coats? His hats that look like the perms on gray-haired poodles? Her drab brown sweaters that look like they were torn from the bedroom floor: one pulled over her head, the other wrapped crudely around her waist?
Her fall JW Anderson show challenged the eye with unconventional proportions, dull colors, overly thick fabrics, and a randomness of throwing something on top to open the door.
While the show lacked the charm and verve of its latest womenswear outings, it provided plenty of food for thought by questioning the nostalgia craze that has seen decades-old songs by Kate Bush and Tracy Chapman return to the top of the charts. pop.
“I just wanted something that was a little out of place,” the designer said during his self-conscious explanation after the show, as journalists crowded eight around him and struggled to record his deepest thoughts.
She had drawn inspiration from more banal elements of Britishness, mentioning the “woman next door,” “nosy neighbors,” horseback riding, Marks & Spencer blouses from the 1970s, dress patterns bought at John’s. Lewis or “the things in which trophies are won.” “
The latter were expressed in wrestling belts adorned with fabric flowers and extra-long first prize ribbons that dangled like the tentacles of a jellyfish.
An understated rebellion also manifested itself in her chunky shearling chukka boots, her hourglass minidresses with sweatshirt collars, her cable-knit sweaters reminiscent of dripping candles, and her super-chic trench coats.
In an interview with WWD before the show, the designer said he believes “there is a need and a desire for fashion right now. And I also think people want authenticity and originality.”
Anderson is undoubtedly a fashion original, and his press releases neatly summed up the alternatives to our current obsessions. “Instead of nostalgia, colloquialism. Instead of the sensational, the not apparent. Instead of notoriety, be reserved.”
Do not tell anybody.
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