Irish designer JW Anderson follows up acclaimed debuts at London and Paris Fashion Weeks this year with a brand new collaboration with A.P.C. to close out the summer.
Drawing inspiration from Joseph Beuys’s performance I Like America and America Likes Me, the new collection is designed as an ideal wardrobe that Jonathan Anderson himself would like to wear. Made for women and men, it revolves around two silhouettes. The first, more fitted and rocker, includes black denim, a biker jacket and hand-painted cotton knit. The second is more hippie, with looser shapes, multicolored knitwear and used denim. This is the first time that A.P.C. offers a piece with a torn, stonewashed effect created with a laser, without any chemical processes.
The collection plays with “classic” hallmarks and pays special attention to details: the best American jersey for the T-shirts, hand-knitted sweaters, the historic duffle coat with its rope trim and integrated whistle, a Cornishware teapot and a tote bag in ultra-sturdy canvas that closes with an XXL zipper.
Speaking on the collection, Jonathan Anderson states: “This project was about learning and the excitement of a new collaboration. It made sense where I’m at in terms of fashion. It felt natural. We have this fascination for reinventing things that don’t need to be reinvented, but glorified instead, which I think is more exciting. What A.P.C. is amazing at is it doesn’t feel over-egged. It has just the right amount of now”.
This is mirrored by Jean Touitou, creative director and founder of A.P.C.: “For me, the work meetings with Jonathan have always been a very quick and productive ping-pong game. When I brought an idea, he immediately transformed it into something better. It’s a sort of limitless hyperlink, like automatic writing applied to clothing, accessories and images. Thanks to Jonathan, we were able to go a little farther than usual in terms of originality and explorations. Let’s take Joseph Beuys’s ambulance and follow him on his chimeric journey.”
Drag through the new collection below.
