After chewing through the Seventies and Eighties in recent seasons, London boy wonder Jonathan Anderson decided to “slow the tempo” with a more contemplative collection for spring, crafted mainly in calico and dark denim.
It was magnificent — miles ahead of other runways in the designer’s inimitable blend of borderline-awkward cutting, sly androgyny and engrossing storytelling via clothes and accessories. (The latter included trinkets strung on small brooches and flat, abstract cages the models toted.)
“Boy in space,” the designer said backstage, enough words to explain the thinking behind naive, man-on-moon era graphics on lean sweaters and boxy sweatshirts, and the vaguely Luke Skywalker jackets and chic denim Jedi tops with their belted waists and jutting shoulders.
You May Also Like
Asymmetric panels and funnel necks on loose, smocklike tops were a nod to David Bowie, said Anderson, who put everything over gently ballooning, cuffed and cropped “fisherman pants” with rows of pleats below the waistband.
The gentle colors, crisp shapes and spoken-word soundtrack by American composer Robert Ashley cast a spell as surely as Bowie’s dreamy “Space Oddity.” Ground control to Major Jonathan: You’ve really made the grade.