BEAUTY: Clothing--J.W. Anderson

Last season, designer Jonathan (J.W.) Anderson presented a fascinating collection inspired by Christopher Robin, the hero and real-life son of author A.A. Milne's WINNIE THE POOH series. According to Milne's own autobiography THE ENCHANTED PLACES, Christopher Robin had quite a talent for working with his hands. He owned a small tool kit, which he used to disassemble the lock on his nursery door when he was seven years old. In a brilliant move on Anderson's part, this accounted for the little improvised tool kit carried by the models down the runway! Anderson's clothing silhouettes are visceral and immediate but the route there is cerebral and oblique. See the entire collection here.

So, a few days before the runway show for his SS '17 collection just shown at London Collections: Men, Anderson posted a picture of the cover of Antoine de Saint‐Exupéry’s classic fable LE PETIT PRINCE (in English) to his Instagram account. Anderson read it as a child...could this be his own, extant copy?

Thus he brought his amazing, jagged minimalism to another childhood classic. And the execution is just as oblique and cerebral as the Christopher Robin collection. Here, models sport goggles...the type most surely worn by the aviator narrator of LE PETIT PRINCE. On their bodies, models wore loose, baggy clothing that made them look as if they had gotten into their parents' closets to play dress-up (Anderson referenced the idea of "childhood discovered at will" when he said, "It's not about being nostalgic, it's about being childlike,"). A few models wore crowns of what look like coral beads (The Little Prince is a prince after all). But back to the aviator: a wonderful jumpsuit, hooded and nipped at the waist, is again something one would find on a pilot, along with some gorgeous lace-up sneaker boots in brown, pink, and aqua leather which feel a bit retro. And finally, we get to see a green coat like the one worn by the Little Prince himself.

http://j-w-anderson.com/