To present his J.W. Anderson resort lineup, Jonathan Anderson took to Kettle’s Yard House, a series of inter-connected cottages in Cambridge whose spare interiors house a highly curated collection of 20th-century art. The gallery was first opened by the late collector Jim Ede in 1956, and is set to close later this month for a period of redevelopment. “When I first came here it was mesmerizing how precise someone could be with the idea of how you live with art,” said Anderson, noting that he decided to stage the presentation there not because it directly informed the collection, but instead to “show where inspiration comes from — it’s very nice to see that fashion is not fundamentally only about clothing,” he said.
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As to the clothes, the designer said that he was “kind of moving away from where we were, trying to find differences and newness.” The looks had a feminine slant, and offered a softer approach than Anderson’s Eighties-influenced fall collection. One knee-length dress had puffed sleeves and swags of gathered material at the hips, and was done in what looked like a modern, airbrushed take on a William Morris print. Anderson also made a collage of florals and blocks of color, as in one cardigan-style black knit dress in which the arms were done in a vivid black, red and yellow flower print, with an asymmetric ruffle on the skirt in a coral and white floral.
Polka-dot cottons, striped ribbed knits, fine leather and denim also wove through the lineup, on silhouettes that both hugged and flared away from the body, such as a strong-shouldered brilliant white jersey dress with a stiff wave at the hem and a dress that fused a leather bodice, white midsection and a micro polka dot skirt.
And perhaps prompted by the gallery setting, Anderson — who no doubt takes a considered approach to fashion — mused that he doesn’t think that fashion will ever be art. “Ultimately, clothing is a commerce…it’s part of consumption, it’s a functional thing,” he said. “I think garments have to be worn….They’re meant to get old, they’re meant to get distressed. I think that’s the excitement of it. It becomes the person.”