We all know that J.W. Anderson loves playing around with gender in his collections; we all expect femininity in his menswear line, and this season was no different.
Giant sky blue floral emblazoned tops graced the runway which made the Devil Wears Prada fan inside me think “florals for spring? groundbreaking.” Even on men’s clothing this isn’t an exciting venture, especially for Anderson who is known for his wacky designs.
But don’t fear, once that travesty finished the real stuff came pouring out.
Silhouettes not too dissimilar to hand-made Chinese lanterns structure and straight jacket-esque tops make it clear that what we were hoping for was what we were going to get. Safe is not something we want to see with this designer’s collections.
Oversized collars on shirts and trenches created an 80s vibe that seems to be the latest era the fashion world is recreating.
This collection relied on the top half as the trousers were all the same in style, but varied in colour with an occasional pattern. Although the designs were fun and creative and the strongest part of the collection, I wanted more, I didn’t want to just look at the models top half, I wanted to be engulfed by a whole outfit.
Anderson brought well fitted thin jumpers to his SS 16 collection which makes perfect sense for spring/summer, but just as the collection started to make sense, Anderson switched it up and brought oversized cropped jumpers to the catwalk, shown with high-waisted trousers and red open top shoes the look was slightly too feminine, even for Anderson.
Leather trench coats also made appearance in the SS collection, making you question if the concept of heat was brought into consideration. I could feel myself starting to sweat just looking at them.
Overall Anderson’s SS 16 collection stuck with femininity and played on classic SS looks, perhaps it wasn’t his strongest collection but it definitely caught my attention.
