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With a bit of luck Irish designer JW Anderson will join the legion of designers now combining men’s and womenswear within one runway show, because having seen both today I’m divided as to which collection I’m coveting more.
Anderson always explores shape and his womenswear collection was dominated by tulip skirts, exaggerated sleeve shapes, fluctuating hemlines and asymmetric cuts. Textures ranged from butter-soft leather and sumptuous shearling to frothy feathers and heavily draped jerseys.
His trend towards utilitarian detailing returned this season and we saw exposed zips and oversized pockets in the most unexpected of places … one exposed zip defined the sweetheart neckline of a strapless dress, while a purple silk satin jumpsuit was one of many pieces that had pockets?positioned directly over the model’s breasts.
But it’s his menswear runway show that I keep replaying. The knitwear was sublime; from a simple thin-knit camel cardigan with patchwork crocheted pockets to super-sized Aran sweaters and a floor-length fringed tangerine cardigan with matching chunky knit scarf.
The layering was artful; an Oriental-print polo shirt over a tangerine tee over a crocheted “skirt” over wide-leg pants. Forget the tulip skirts in his womenswear collection, I want the longline print, button-front shirt from his menswear show, which I’ll wear belted as a shirtdress, or the double-breasted overcoat with chunky knitted sleeves (do they comeback in XXS??).
Anderson does knitwear so well (and I love wearing it so much) that perhaps its absence from the womenswear collection left me wanting more, but his menswear show certainly filled the void. Put together, they make up one amazing collection that ticks almost all my boxes.