Jonathan Anderson September 2017 September 141 Issue
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JONATHAN ANDERSON SEPTEMBER 2017 ISSUE 141 FALL FASHION 7 $15 USD $15 2527401533 7 09 > CHECKLIST 1 BY: ____________________ CHECKLIST 2 BY: ____________________ CREATIVE CHECKLIST (CHECK AND INITIAL) 141_COVER.indd 1 8/24/17 9:27 AM __ NAME SPELLED CORRECTLY __ NAME SPELLED CORRECTLY __ PHOTOS ARE HI-RES (LIZZZY/DANI) __ ISSUE NUMBER CORRECT __ ISSUE NUMBER CORRECT __ NO BAD BLACKS (LIZZY) __ MONTH AND YEAR CORRECT __ MONTH AND YEAR CORRECT __ UPC AREA CORRECT (LIZZY) FALL FASHION FALL FASHION (OPPOSITE) Jonathan Anderson Speed and inside the Loewe store in Madrid. Substance Fashion designer Jonathan Anderson balances a prolific output with an unwavering attention to craft. BY TIFFANY JOW PHOTOS BY NANI GUTIERREZ Most people know Jonathan Anderson Smith kite painting in Loewe’s Madrid a 157-year-old British brand, hired him as the fashion world’s prize provocateur: flagship store. “Nobody cares about to make its cotton basics relevant again. an artful prodigy who once sent men luxury. Today it’s more of a lifestyle, it’s His brand’s sellout 2012 collection for in tube tops, ruffled shorts, and frilly about the arts. Each week, the way we Topshop ignited a flurry of collabora- riding boots down the runway with consume evolves.” tions, followed by Anderson’s capsule casual aplomb. But his talent extends His boy-next-door appearance, com- collection for Versace’s diffusion line, far beyond making a scene. As the cre- plete with sky-blue eyes and T-shirt- Versus, that exuded a slick, overt sexi- ative director of J.W. Anderson and the and-jeans uniform, belies his physical ness foreign to his namesake label. More Spanish house Loewe, the 32-year-old presence, which is intense, impatient, recently, J.W. Anderson initiated proj- shuttles between his brand’s headquar- and on permanent overdrive. Anderson ects with artists such as sculptor Giles ters in London and Loewe’s in Paris, as produces complex, comprehensive ideas Round and potter Joanna Wason, and in well as the latter’s leather workshops at uncanny speed, accelerating with each July, unveiled a fall line for Uniqlo, fea- near Madrid, designing 12 collections a new project he takes on. For Anderson, turing his take on classic British heritage year, plus the occasional capsule, all at rapidity is a good thing: it prevents him garments. At each turn, the designer has Snapchat-era speed. from getting bored or from overthink- dumbfounded critics with his versatility. One of the first millennials to helm a ing. Massive workloads don’t faze him. In 2013, LVMH bought a minor- luxury fashion house, Anderson’s grasp He’ll complete a collection in four weeks ity stake in Anderson’s brand and of the digital metabolism fuels a curi- and move on. “It’s very much like, ‘I like hired him to lead Loewe. By then, the ous paradigm: Even as he creates a con- this and I like that, and I want a bit of British Fashion Council had honored stant stream of new items, he upholds a this and a bit of that,’” he says. “There’s him with its Emerging Talent and New dedication to craft—meticulously con- no preciousness about it.” Establishment awards, in 2012 and 2013, structed objects that offer relief from It’s a process that works, and enables respectively. It named Anderson both our increasingly pixelated world. his extensive reach. He launched J.W. Menswear and Womenswear Designer “Luxury doesn’t exist anymore,” Anderson in 2008 and added womens- of the Year in 2015—the first time any- he says, sitting below a 1970s Richard wear in 2010, the same year that Sunspel, one won both top honors. > SURFACE 126 127 141_FEATURE_JANDERSON.indd 126 8/24/17 12:50 PM 141_FEATURE_JANDERSON.indd 127 8/24/17 3:58 PM FALL FASHION FALL FASHION A Richard Smith kite painting inside the Loewe Madrid flagship Anderson was born in The Loup, a small nice way to design,” he says of the pro- store. (OPPOSITE, TOP LEFT AND village in Northern Ireland’s County cess, which helped him build the J.W. BOTTOM RIGHT) Looks from the Derry. He performed in London’s Anderson man and woman. Though J.W. Anderson fall/winter 2012 National Youth Music Theatre, and, they’ve since grown more distinct, early women’s collection. (OPPOSITE, at 18, moved to Washington, D.C., for men’s and womenswear collections fea- TOP RIGHT AND BOTTOM LEFT) an acting program, only to discover tured concurrent elements, like fisher- Looks from the J.W. Anderson fall/ that his real passion lay in the pro- man’s hats, platform oxfords, dresslike winter 2012 men’s collection. duction of a show. After moving back trenches, and those notorious ruffled to Ireland, he took a job at retailer shorts, made for fall/winter 2013 using Brown Thomas, where he met Manuela patterns drafted for women. Anderson Pavesi, Miuccia Prada’s late, legendary deemed the violent reactions they right hand. Anderson studied mens- caused a success—they had challenged wear at the London College of Fashion something in people. while dressing windows for Pavesi, “Jonathan’s first menswear collec- who became instrumental in his deci- tions were extremely feminine. They sion to pursue design. “Manuela was boarded on the bizarre,” says Jay Bell, a strong character who knew exactly Barneys New York’s senior vice presi- what she wanted out of life,” he says. dent of men’s ready-to-wear, who has “It was inspiring, this idea of not com- tracked Anderson’s work for more than promising on anything.” He vowed to a decade. “We didn’t see an opportunity start making things—clothes, objects, to do business with him at that point.” whatever he could—and founded J.W. While Barneys eventually took on J.W. Anderson three years later. Anderson, in 2010, around the time the The practice of categorizing cloth- brand was gaining exposure in fash- ing by gender had long fascinated ion editorials, and has carried Loewe Anderson, who noticed its guidelines since 2015, Bell finds relief in knowing breaking down on the street: people Anderson recognizes the demands of wore what they wanted. To him, a leading two brands at once. “Thank God white shirt is a white shirt, unassigned he’s rooted in reality,” he said. “He can’t to a particular sex. “It felt like a very carry on at this pace forever.” > PHOTOS: (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP) COURTESY J.W. ANDERSON (4) (MEN’S AUTUMN/WINTER 2012 COLLECTION. WOMEN’S AUTUMN/WINTER 2012 COLLECTION). 2012 AUTUMN/WINTER WOMEN’S COLLECTION. 2012 ANDERSON (4) (MEN’S AUTUMN/WINTER J.W. COURTESY TOP) FROM (CLOCKWISE PHOTOS: SURFACE 128 129 141_FEATURE_JANDERSON.indd 128 8/23/17 5:08 PM 141_FEATURE_JANDERSON.indd 129 8/23/17 5:08 PM FALL FASHION FALL FASHION Despite its roots as a collective craft a contemporary context, subverting the workshop in Madrid, Loewe wasn’t tradition of luxury brands touting their on Anderson’s radar when Pierre-Yves august heritage. “I want to turn Loewe Roussel, LVMH’s chairman and CEO, into a cultural brand,” he says. “Some of proposed that he lead it. Formed in 1846, the world’s most talented people make Loewe was favored by the Spanish royal our bags, so it’s not nostalgic. It’s the family and known for its master leath- future. Young people don’t want nostal- erwork, but it lacked a coherent narra- gia. They want to know the history of tive. LVMH acquired the brand in 1996, the brand, but they want it to be current recruiting luminaries such as Narciso for today.” Rodriguez and Stuart Vevers to develop In an age of fast fashion, maintaining its identity. To Anderson, Loewe was a a dedication to craft is Anderson’s holy diamond in the rough. “They just needed grail. And the objects he creates speak an entire rebrand,” he says. “How do you for themselves. Anderson’s bestselling make a leather company in Spain not feel Puzzle bag, made from 41 individual like sweaty leather?” leather pieces with hand-painted edges, His initial proposal was a book of has a faceted, geometric form that folds around 100 images informed by family totally flat: an ingenious marriage of holidays in Ibiza, complete with a color craft and design. palette and new leatherworking tech- “Other brands defer to more decora- niques. It hinged on a 1997 Steven Meisel tive solutions of product.” Bell says. “I shoot for Italian Vogue, in which a flock think it’s necessary for Jonathan to cre- of models hung out on a beach. They ate. That’s what makes him happy, and weren’t wearing Loewe, and the photo- what makes him tick. He speaks a mile a graphs were nearly two decades old, but his concept resonated as an integrated whole. 46 avenue Montaigne , Paris “Craft was at the heart of his idea from the very beginning, as was the color, the cultural dimension, the way to play with history—all of those tensions were part of his initial proposal. I found it very powerful,” Roussel says. “It takes much more than great creative talent and vision to build a brand. Very few people have that, and Jonathan stands apart from most of them.” Anderson distilled Loewe’s history to its strengths—blue-chip craftspeople, cutting-edge technology—and put it in An Interpretation, 1997 Photographed by Steven Meisel, after Alex Katz A 1997 Steven Meisel image used for the Loewe SS 2015 cam- paign titled “An Interpretation.” Oro Suede Amazona, 2014 loewe.com (OPPOSITE) A pattern and pieces for Loewe’s Puzzle bag.