"Macro Plays Off With Micro, Done With Undone" - JW Anderson Plays With Perception for SS25
On a particularly sunny Sunday morning, with Tower Bridge and the Thames River setting the scene, JW Anderson's SS25 show took place at Old Billingsgate in Central London, once the world's largest fish market back in the Victorian era. The wide-open view from the venue and the presence of numerous celebrities added to the excitement in the air.
A couple of days before the show, JW Anderson’s social media pages posted an upside-down text, which was later revealed to be a quote from critic Clive Bell’s book ‘Art’. “In art the only important distinction is the distinction between good art and bad” Through this sentence, Jonathan Anderson sought to convey the idea that the quality of an artwork is more important than any other factors.
The show venue was filled white cube-style seats and people, and the atmosphere was buzzing. And suddenly, Sophie Powers & Grimes’ track "Obsessed" began to be played out loud, creating an air of tension and focus.
Model Libby Bennett appeared wearing a simple silk mini dress with trompe-l'oeil buttons, her walk intensified in sync with the beat. Following her, models walked the runway in sequinned trompe-l'oeil mini dresses, silk dresses with hoodie strings and zippers printed on, paisley print flapper dresses with lace along the V-line, leather dresses with circular disk skirts, bulky and structural bubble skirts, and oversized knitted pieces. Most looks were paired with round-toe leather flat boots that slanted at the ankle and bags featuring penny loafer details.
Jonathan Anderson’s SS25 collection used only silk, satin, cashmere, calfskin, sequins, and lace as sole embellishment. Experimenting with and embracing strict boundaries allowed for a foundation that sparks creativity. It was a portrayal of a moment of restriction becoming a form of liberation.
While restricting his materials, Anderson explored new forms of beauty and form of mini-dress through elements like knitting, weaving, puffing, distortion, and deconstruction. To quote the show note, the key concept of “Zooming in, and zooming out, macro plays off with micro, done with undone” played the core structure of this collection. When looking in detail, you could see knit stitches magnifying into larger fabrics, ribbons blooming into a much larger scale, flaps distorting into a shirt, blankets liquifying to a dress, skirts floating as a perfect circle. The application continued to an essay on design printed on a slim silhouette dress, and argyle pattern - iconic and reminiscent of early JW Anderson’s collection - blending into a top.
After the show, in a backstage interview, Anderson explained, “It’s a review by Clive Bell, which was on the idea of art and design and how they sit together. And do they sit together? Should they sit together? Should they be mixed? And it's not really about the text.” He added, "I think it’s about modernity - with text on a white page." underscoring the importance of "ultimately starting from a new blank page," a notion echoed by the quote’s appearance three times during the show.
Reflecting on the future of Fashion Week, Anderson said, "I think all fashion weeks are going through a transitory period. I do feel like we’re coming to the end of a decade. And I think in a weird way, the economic climate is going to help people to focus on actually why we have fashion and what they’re about and what people are trying to say. I’ve been doing fashion for 15 years. I will continue to be here, but I do think ‘what is the purpose?’. If you’re going to do a show, there has to be a purpose to the show, and I think it would be great that all fashion weeks might work together - would probably be helpful.”
And on London Fashion Week, Jonathan added “London is very important to me. It was the first place to give me a platform. I am loyal to it. Some of the greatest talent comes out of London. I think if we don’t keep the thing of - the wrongs, and rights and experimentation, where is London's purpose in this stage? Life is not always about business.”
As I wrote this in a café near the show venue, sipping on a bitter coffee, I thought about the concept that life isn’t always about business. And to move forward, sometimes you have to clear everything and start fresh from a blank page. Thanks to the JW Anderson show I chose over a sweet Sunday morning snooze, I felt something moving inside - excitement for the future. Oh, and look 34—the pink sequinned mini dress? I’m definitely going to try that one on.
