JW ANDERSON

Brand and Fashion Designer, J

JW ANDERSON, TRANSFORMING TRADITIONS INTO AN EXCITING VISION FOR THE PRESENT.

JW Anderson is a British fashion label, founded by Jonathan Anderson. He established it in 2008, based in London. The brand initially focused on menswear, before moving into womenswear in 2010.

The brand won in both men’s and women’s categories, for the brand of the year at the British Fashion Council’s Fashion Awards in 2015. Henceforth becoming the first brand to pick up both awards in the same year.

JONATHAN ANDERSON

JW Anderson: 'We have to democratise fashion' | Uniqlo | The Guardian Jonathan Anderson

Anderson was born in the town of Magherafelt in Northern Ireland in 1984. He grew up in Northern Ireland but spent a lot of time on the Balearic island of Ibiza. The contrasting environments played a big role in shaping his sensibilities as a designer.

At the age of 18, he moved to the United States in an attempt to become an actor. He was based in New York at The Juilliard School but developed an interest in costume design rather than acting. He moved to Dublin shortly after, securing his first fashion-based job at the Dublin department store, Brown Thomas.

Jonathan later moved to London, graduating from the London College of Fashion in 2005. He later started working as a visual merchandiser for Prada, before launching JW Anderson in 2008.

COLLABORATIONS

The brand and its designer collaborated with several retail fashion brands. It achieved the status of its name in Britain, after its notable collaboration with Topshop in 2012. Alongside Topshop, they created a limited-edition collection of clothing and accessories. Vogue covered the brand’s spring/summer collection that same year, including paisley-print daywear pyjamas, which sold out shortly after the launch

Fashionably Speaking, London Owned the 2010s: JW Anderson and Simone Rocha  | Vogue Topshop X JW Anderson 

In June 2013, Anderson showcased his first collection for Versace’s diffusion line Versus, replacing Christopher Kane. By September 2013, LVMH took a minority stake in JW Anderson and hired Anderson to take the creative helm at Loewe, an LVMH-owned brand based in Madrid and best known for its leather goods.

“When Delphine Arnault and I first met Jonathan, we immediately felt that we could help him express the full potential of his innovative, fast emerging, and already influential brand. While discussing our partnership and as we got to know him better, it became clear that his understanding of all creative facets of a brand and his capacity to transform tradition into an exciting vision for the present would make him also the perfect creative director for Loewe,”

Said Pierre-Yves Roussel, chairman, and CEO of LVMH’s fashion division, in a statement.

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