JW Anderson Women’s Autumn Winter 2021 collection explored volume and the body as a vessel, by presenting nineteen double-sided posters and a video message from the brand’s Founder and Creative Director, Jonathan Anderson
Text by: Domenico Costantini
JW Anderson presented his Women’s Autumn Winter 2021 collection with nineteen double-sided posters and a video message from the brand’s Founder and Creative Director Jonathan Anderson. The presentation took on a brand new dimension this season, with Jonathan describing the new collection as one of “the most personal projects he has ever done.” The fashion house’s AW 21 garments embody the researched curation and juxtaposition of his two passions: art and fashion. Alongside the nineteen looks of the Women’s Autumn Winter collection are images of two artists and their works, including limited-edition blankets that they co-produced with JW Anderson. Jonathan first met artist and ceramicist Dame Magdalene Odundo while curating the Disobedient Bodies exhibition for the Hepworth Wakefield in 2017. In June 2020, during a brief relaxation of lockdown rules in the UK, Jonathan saw the work of American-born artist Shawanda Corbett at the Corvi-Mora gallery in London. Both artists agreed to join forces with JW Anderson to develop a series of limited-edition blankets based on three works each, for a total of six unique styles. The portraits of Magdalene and Shawanda, the photographs of their incredible ceramics, the blanket collaboration, and the JW Anderson collection were all revealed to the public simultaneously in sixty-one images shot by photographer Juergen Teller. The images inhabit nineteen B1 posters, curated by the designer of the fashion house in a joint effort with the photographer and wrapped by Jonathan himself in a personal letter. In this collection, the designer attempted to “boil everything down to beauty, silhouette and, pose.” The astonishingly disturbing collection is an exploration of volume; a recurring theme in JW Anderson womenswear, which often focuses on totemic structures. In turn, knitwear expands into cocooning shapes. The everyday becomes surreal in prints deliberately placed on trousers and tops. The body, grounded on sturdy boots with chain embellishment, is celebrated as a vessel. Just like the art and the images encapsulated in this digital presentation, fashion has been curated to the finest detail. In addition to his personal letter, Jonathan recorded a video message where he discussed his relationship with the artists, the process of creating the collaboration as well as the collection itself; he also stressed the excitement of working with Juergen Teller, with a note on the future of fashion.