At JW Anderson, the Shifting Throbs of Film
Anderson thinks there’s something quite psychological with the kind of contrasts of the two — the film itself and the imagery in the wall — which hold a very personal reference as it deals with pregnancy, breastfeeding and birth. “I thought there was something intriguing in the way Kubrick brought theatrics to the foreground, delving into the male and the female form and how the rules that can be portrayed through hemling or through the geniuses of tights, looking at how they become an amazing second skin in the purest form and, in turn, they can become a kink, but also functional,” he said, explaining his penchant for building a men’s sock into a hero piece, creating a new line. No wonder, then, that the collection mirrored an aesthetic that morphed alluringly into a profound aftermath. “It’s an odd type of homage to a film that profoundly affected me when I was younger;” explains Anderson, expanding that “If I’m doing a collection, I like to challenge myself in different ways and think how to approach them in a wealth of manners.” The idea of volume or power dressing in the womenswear arena — like the asymmetrically cut velvet onesie and the color red — is an imperative element in the film, acting like a point setter to Anderson’s vision for Fall, who doesn't abandon his chic-grit kick. “Red?” he grins momentarily, “[It feels] like one of those flowers that I find incredibly disgusting, but then there’s something that holds some sort of toxicity to it, like the idea that it can transform into a look stripped to its rawest form: which could be a sweater with the zip, a flower or tights. My intention here was to engineer movement and, through the lineup, subtle promiscuity which ultimately boiled down to a form of classicism as inspiration of gesture. For me, this collection had to be about gestures and the subversive act it makes.”
In the Anderson theater of fashion communications, suspension of disbelief is essential. “The shoes had different sizes of tassels, nearly like a perfume bottle on the women’s numbers, while it was more blown up on the men’s offerings, epitomizing an overt sign of masculinity on a brogue and in a weird way it makes it much more camp,” he said. The saving grace of this busy, multi-referential eclecticism is that Anderson has it all so under control. These days, he will tinge his sensibility with a wacky glamor that allows a lovely sense of nakedness beneath. Best in show? Puffy cardigans and bloomers with satin linings peep out like cushions or curtains which, as seen from a wide angle, flow with blazers that are blown up and out of scale. There was no shortage of stellar effects: the evidence included shirts that were distorted with humongous sleeves, while trousers and jumpers were over-scaled. The body was trapped in oddly placed sleeves, and textures became juxtaposed. After years of helming the brand, Anderson has perfected his dive into the outlandish.
