“Curation” is described as “Jonathan Anderson’s main creative tool” in the first line of his press release for this JW Anderson collection. The word “curation” originated in the Latin verb curare—to care for, or to attend to—and in this collection and lookbook (for which Anderson was unavailable to speak) he exhibited a contemporary curation of his original fashion endeavor.
Anderson’s selective assembly of garments, accessories, lifestyle objects, and people was set within a Hella Keck-designed seascape studio tableau shot by Heikki Kaski that was all roiling foam and crashing breaker. Washed up in front of them was a deliberate selection of fashion flotsam, some of which was resurfaced and sometimes refigured to anticipate the tidal flow of the season: Anderson’s release directed our attention to new fabrications of his fold-over trouser and twist jean.
Craft supplied a curatorial anchor. Donegal wool knits sprouted wildflowers and ferns, while Anderson’s house knit drew on the image of a traditional Irish cottage. A squirrel motif derived from a Scottish Fair Isle pattern from Sanquhar, according to the release. A red and blue coat and scarf came through a collaboration with Johnstons of Elgin. These references to folk textile, domestic object, and rural making, so often presented within a frame of nostalgia or tweeness, were here made bracingly fresh.
As previously, the totality of Anderson’s curation extended to his cast. Amongst several standouts Ivor Braka gave end-of-the-pier Iggy Pop, while Tommy Campe delivered camp Venus anadyomene. Anderson’s release also highlighted his inclusion of ceramicist Akiko Hirai, Dree Hemingway, and art critic/historian Dr. James Fox.
