Sunday, June 21, 2015

Our Day Out - JW Anderson Resort

Seoul, Palm Springs, Cannes, New York and... Cambridge? JW Anderson took us off the beaten track last night for an evening of resort at Kettle´s Yard, the former home of art folk Jim and Helen Eade. But don't think he's hopped on the pre-collection band wagon just yet.

"It's just nice to come here," said the designer, who shrugged off the idea that this pleasant evening treat was part of what has become a growing trend for brands to throw something of a spectacular for their between-season collections ( Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Dior and Gucci hosted at the aforementioned spots). "We actually just decided to do this three weeks ago. I came here and when I was leaving thought how I wish more people knew about it. We wanted to help these guys out, it's nice to be able to do and, yes, I do fashion but ultimately there are different facets that go into it."



Anderson was referring to the property's closure, it will be sleeping for the next two years while a refurbishment takes place and the doors to a wonderful curation of art - paintings by Ben and Winifred Nicholson, sculptures from Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth - are shut. "I'm pretending it's my house for one evening. If I lived in an imaginary house, it would be like this," he said. It was a sentiment shared by all.

And the space's own art history certainly rubbed off on him. "My biggest question is: is fashion art? In my head it never will be because ultimately, it's a commerce. It's about the person, the individual. It's a functional thing, garments have to be worn."

Aptly, this train of thought is entirely in-keeping with the point of pre-collections: to sell, which with London hosting its own pre-collection initiative next week prompts the question: how important does he think it is for a designer to partake in the additional season?

"It depends. At Loewe  we don't do them - it's not something we need because we don't just rely on the clothing. JW relies on clothing so we need to keep up the pace and the newness for stores. Plus I enjoy them. I quite love doing them. I see it as 10 collections and it's a journey through them," he said.

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