“Bottom line: It’s girls having fun,” said Jonathan Anderson with a shrug backstage after his fall-winter show, a romp through the Eighties hinged on loads of Lurex and the sort of silhouettes Claude Montana pioneered more than a generation ago.
Anderson didn’t hold back, amplifying the signposts of that go-go decade: Oversized leather coats with asymmetrical snap closures; tulip-shaped wrap skirts with built-in belts; funnel-neck peplum blouses in crushed velvet or lame; and bubble-shaped coats belted around the hips. Never afraid of awkward combinations, he tucked Kelly green wide-wale cords into ungainly block-heeled scrunch boots, and strung heavy silver chains on high-waist skirts that got those peplums swinging.
The surprise was how literally he celebrated the retro look, forsaking the abstract and artsy spin that has made him one of the hottest young talents working in London — and Paris, where he’s creative director of LVMH’s Loewe. Shades of that came through in the kimono-shaped jackets and tops, the oversized shapes an angular and exotic foil to round-shouldered dresses and coats.