MFF 110 - Jonathan Anderson: «I like to get into the system without being too loud, but by changing things»

"I will be back in June, keeping it positive is part of the game". Jonathan Anderson is speaking from London, but he is looking at Milan as his true love, a place where he could not wait to fly with his JW Anderson menswear show and a collection designed specifically for the metropolis in Lombardy. To mark a debut, the first time in the Milan Fashion Week’s agenda, where he promised to be a protagonist again next season. "I was very sorry not to do the fashion show live, but Covid-19 is not helping, again," Jonathan Anderson explained, in an exclusive interview with a very special portfolio, beginning a story where past and future are mixed, with a main core. Milan the place to be.

Amidst a sartorial know-how, the myth of "la Milanese" and the subversive women that the artist met, for whom he worked and who made Italian fashion. Donatella Versace and the brilliant Manuela Pavesi, under the leadership of Miuccia Prada. Women who never compromised. Powerful examples of authenticity, according to Jonathan Anderson, who today describes himself as a little more “edited”, focused and amused. Ready, however, for a slightly sillier and more provoking wardrobe. "Besides the clothes, this has more to do with the type of celebration. The act of fashion".

JW Anderson's menswear made its digital debut at Milan Fashion Week. What does Milan represent for you?

I have this real love when I visit Milan for work. There is nothing better than sitting on one of its terraces, I think the people are so nice. I collaborate with Moncler and one of my first jobs was at Prada and I have this peculiar fancy for Milan, as well as a lot of friends. That is why I thought it made sense, it was a nice landscape. Even though the collection is not physically there, it is like I worked really hard on that and tried to make this show for Milan.

Have you ever lived in Milan?

I have always just been a commuter both when I was working at Prada and we used to have meetings on showcases (he was offered a job at the fashion house a month after his enrolment at the London College of Fashion, ed.) and when I was working at Versus Versace. Getting a house? That would be very chic. When I come, I stay at the Bulgari Hotel. I really like to have breakfast there in the morning. I always thought that the customer service in Italy is particularly good.

La Dolce Vita...

I smoke cigarettes and I am a coffee girl (he laughs, ed.). Milan is very good for that.

What has inspired your collection?

I wanted something slightly silly, but with a bit of a kaleidoscopic blur. I feel like the last few years have been kind of blurred, confused. Moreover, menswear is where I started from and I thought I wanted to come back to the good old classic look of JW Anderson.

Your vision of "classic"...

It has almost to do with “tearing the body into pieces”. It is also ambiguity, of course.

You were among the first ones to work on menswear with a fluid concept. How do you feel now, after a few years of everyone taking inspiration? Are you proud?

That is a good thing and it is why revisiting this idea was very nice to do. How to approach it in a different way? I was looking at the idea of footballers and how football can be camp.

Camp?

I thought it would be interesting to make sequined football shirts that play with the notion of masculinity in a subversive way. Or a polo shirt that becomes a dress that becomes a pair of shorts. It is about this idea of perversion.

What do you mean by perversion?

It is sexy, seductive. I like tops that are like hula hoops going through the leg, there is something playful and cheerful about this idea.

It is not a very wintery look...

We have had so many winters, I wish we had an endless summer.

You described the collection as a little less serious, provocative and subversive. Do those words define you?

When I look at it, I think it reflects me a lot, like I designed myself. And I find that kind of exploration fascinating. There is so much commercialism out there. And it has been great to work on archetypes and clothes that are exciting, that I find exciting as characters. It is like making a movie.

What does this film you have in mind look like?

I think it is definitely a blur, a confusion, a whirlwind.

"Blur" is the new word...

Some of it is very British. Those guys are so masculine that they become really feminine.

What do you think of Italian menswear, in contrast to your British taste?

There is something I have always liked about Italian menswear because there is this moment where it becomes borderline. So perfectly masculine that it almost becomes feminine because it is so precise.

Too much?

I love it. Italian men are particularly good at seduction. With the perfect suit and the perfect shoes, the perfect wallet, the perfect glasses. There is a crossover between British and Milanese style, because there is this idea of classicism in menswear that comes from tailoring. When I was working with Manuela Pavesi, she was obsessed with brit style and going to Portobello Road or Kempton Market to find these weird, wonderful things. There is something in the link between those two cities.

Talking about your time in Milan, when you worked with Maisons led by Miuccia Prada and Donatella Versace. Are they subversive?

At Prada, I did not work with Miuccia, but with Manuela Pavesi. What a genius. What was interesting about her was that she was kind of eccentric, in the sense that she did not compromise. Donatella is like that too, although she is completely different. There is something about the idea of eccentricity that is so exciting. They are very seductive and "in control" women. They know how to control men very well.

Is that the secret of Milanese women?

There is a level of power that women in Milan hold, a kind of authenticity. And it was interesting to see how Donatella has a 360-degree awareness about this image. There are not many people like them.

Miuccia Prada and Donatella Versace are rumoured to be friends...

I would love to be in that conversation.

So, when reaching the extreme, do Italian and British menswear touch each other?

It is about these strange complexities. When you look at fashion in Milan, it is actually women who made it.

Who else?

Miuccia and Donatella are really kind of ahead of their time, they are incredibly powerful and they work in a male-dominated industry. All of that is remarkable and it has been happening in Milan for about 30 years. There are these amazing ideal people who are really connected to their ideas. You know exactly who Miuccia Prada is and who Donatella is.

And do you, as a designer, feel that your vision has changed over the years?

It is more focused, concentrated. I do not believe I changed who I am, I just became more focused and "edited". And I think I am actually having more fun. I feel like I am less worried about: "Oh, what are people going to think!". I just want to keep practicing, I do not want to stop, I have to keep letting my stuff out there and putting it out there.

Always "on the edge," are you never afraid of being "too much"?

I am not afraid. Especially in times like these, in which everything is censored, it is important to stay grounded and encouraging the dialogue.

You are able to work with Steven Meisel but also with an emerging artist no one knows yet...

Of course, there is nothing better than challenging yourself with different kinds of people, no matter what their level is.

Art is a very important part of your inspiration. There was a quote in one of your collections, "The secret of life is art"...

It is a quote from Oscar Wilde. According to me, art is a kind of hobby, my passion. It is part of me, therefore it is the thing I have touched through my collections. There will always be something that subconsciously influenced me. The most surprising thing is that art is such a generous act.

You always put many ideas together in one show. In what sense are you able to do more editing now?

It is just about trying to elaborate the mix, or gathering things that I am excited about, both on a tactile level or in the silhouette. Once I get that, instead of making twenty-five stories, I reduce them to seven. I am narrowing the focus, the target.

What is the difference in working for your own collection and a larger one, such as LOEWE's?

The process is exactly the same. One brand has simply a bigger TV monitor than the other.

And do you prefer working for your independent side or do you like the idea of being in a big group?

It depends on the week I am in.

Not an easy question, but what is the future of fashion? You are the kind of person who is always questioning it...

I feel that fashion has this incredible opportunity to make some kind of change but, unfortunately, we would have to break its establishment. Therefore, the future is a strange paradox, because I feel like the idea of the creative artist is gone. We are heading towards a very serious moment of hype and maybe, sometimes, incomprehension. We are in a strange time where we should try to re-inject creativity, otherwise...

Should the fashion industry care more about social and environmental issues?

We all believe that everyone should care about these issues. By working in the creativity field, we are so lucky, because creativity itself, when applied to the environment and social inequalities, is the field where incredible ideas can emerge. We are in this difficult time in which everything is based on a single product, may it be a shoe or a bag or a sweatshirt. It does not have to do with the brand, we are obsessed with a certain brand’s product, we consume it very quickly and then move on to the next brand. We are definitely heading into a time where, stylistically, longevity belongs to the past, in terms of aesthetics.

How would you change this aspect?

The only way to change anything is to maintain your integrity. As long as you have authenticity, you will be able to get through this period. But if you fall into what the machine wants you to do… I think a lot of people need to start working against the machine to be able to achieve change.

But you have to be on the inside to work against the machine...

Yes.

Is marketing a trap?

In the end, marketing is what fashion has become. And it was definitely born in the last decade. Ultimately, it is marketing sometimes made of design.

You are not a marketing boy...

I would not say that. There are a lot of people out there who are better marketers than I am. I do my best to try to get the message across as clearly and concisely as possible.

JW Anderson is said to be a cultural agitator...

We like to get into the system without being too loud, but by changing things. I do not like to yell things out, I like to do them. And that is it.

You were talking about authenticity earlier. Are there any examples you follow, in fashion?

John Galliano, incorruptible. I think he really changed things. Miuccia Prada is another example, she opened many paths for my generation. And then, within my gen, I admire Demna (Creative Director at Balenciaga, ed.). I like what he does on all fronts, because I feel that this makes me wake up in the morning and challenge myself, at times. He is quite the agitator.

In Miami, a little while ago, you were at the Louis Vuitton show to commemorate Virgil Abloh...

I am part of LVMH and Virgil was too, and I got to know him just through being part of the group. When I started working for Loewe, he was incredibly supportive and wore a lot of our clothes, we chatted a lot. It is really sad that he is no longer in the industry because he was part of my generation and dealt with so many issues, with his work. As time goes on, we will start to realize that he was kind of a pioneer, able to look at marketing and fashion as kind of a secular thing. And it was incredible to have him within LVMH, because I think there was a new gen.

And there is still a new generation...

I like it, but it was emotional and his voice will be incredibly missed, because he was a machine, with a completely different approach. And he never stood still: that is what I always thought was so admirable about him. As if he ignored everything else, he was constantly moving forward. His sense of curiosity was incredible.

He was everywhere, from Ikea to Louis Vuitton. And you never stop either: working, having fun and moving on. But is there anything you are afraid of?

There is always the fear of not being relevant anymore, it is the fear of every creative person. I am not old, but as you get older and go through all this, a pandemic, there are times when you fear death. Since we are surrounded by it so much, we start to realize that life is incredibly short. And that is pretty scary, especially if you are ambitious.

Back on Milan, you mentioned that you will come back in June for another show. How important are these physical shows compared to videos or films?

Any kind of content is fine. But thinking about Milan, during a physical show... I just wanted to be with people in the industry.

This idea of a hub of friends is great, Milan as "the place to be"...

It would have been nice to see other people. Apart from clothes, it is more about the type of celebration, the "act of fashion”.

Do you think we will be the same after Covid?

Yes, you have to think positive. The great thing about society is that we always go back to normal at some point. (All rights reserved)