Legacy. JW Anderson SS27

JW Anderson opens the spring-summer 2027 season with a cast brimming with character and charisma – while keeping the clothes firmly in familiar territory. More than a year ago, Jonathan Anderson very deliberately repositioned his London-based namesake label, a move that made perfect sense once his biggest job shifted to Paris at Dior. Gone are the runway spectacles; in their place come carefully crafted lookbooks starring friends of the brand, dressed in the signatures you can find year-round in JW Anderson’s meticulously curated boutiques. Craft – unmistakably British craft – remains the central pillar. At this rate, the label could soon become the new Barbour or even Burberry, albeit with a sharper sense of humor and considerably cooler company. In other words: the next great British brand. Donegal wool knits bloom with wildflowers and ferns, while the house’s signature knitwear references the image of a traditional Irish cottage. The ever-present squirrel motif traces its origins to a Scottish Fair Isle pattern from Sanquhar, and a striking red coat with a matching scarf emerges from a collaboration with Johnstons of Elgin (arguably the source of the finest cashmere in the world – sorry, Italians!). Throughout the collection, Anderson playfully weaves together folk textiles, domestic objects, and rural craftsmanship, recontextualising them through a joyful cast that includes Dree Hemingway, Isaac Cole Powell, Camille B. Waddington, Sophie Okonedo, and more than a touch of flamboyant mischief.

ED’s SELECTION:


JW Anderson Layered Wool And Cashmere-blend Cardigan



JW Anderson Cauliflower Crocheted Cotton Bag Charm



JW Anderson Shearling-lined Suede Ankle Boots



JW Anderson Wool-twill Blazer



JW Anderson Tie-detailed Crinkled-silk Midi Dress

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Hollywood Drama. Dior Resort 2027

In her new book, Famesick, Lena Dunham writes that Los Angeles is “the city you go to when possibility knocks on your door. Not just possibility, but glamour, intrigue, the promise of something I didn’t want to admit sounded like it would feel pretty fucking good: affirmation. Boatloads of affirmation.” Did Jonathan Anderson’s first-ever cruise collection for Dior, presented beneath the concrete arches of David Geffen Galleries at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, offer that sense of urgent, soul-shaking affirmation? I’m not so sure.

The problem is that there have been too many “each look a different character” collections lately – not only from Dior, but from many of the brands currently shaping the fashion conversation. Conveniently labeled “eclectic,” this approach often feels like the easiest way to camouflage a creative director’s indecisiveness. Hollywood, of course, is not a singular story. But looking at Anderson’s latest offering, I never felt he captured any of its narratives with real clarity. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Emotional Restoration. Dior AW26

Just after World War II, Christian Dior introduced the Bar jacket as part of his Corolle line. It was sharply criticized for its extravagant use of fabric at a time of postwar austerity. Yet that “unreasonable whim” was not mere indulgence; it was an attempt to submerge collective grief beneath beauty and fantasy. It was, in its own way, an act of emotional restoration – no less valid for being escapist. After all, drowning out pain through aesthetic excess is a coping mechanism many of us recognize.

I found Jonathan Anderson’s sophomore womenswear ready-to-wear collection for Dior a poignant continuation of that impulse. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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All Is Full Of Love. Dior SS26 Couture

This haute couture season isn’t legendary only because of two debut collections at two major maisons. It will be remembered as the fashion week when couture finally leaped into a new era. It is relevant again.

Jonathan Anderson’s Dior collection had been in the making for over six months, and it shows in every single detail. Everything is imbued with passionate love for craft, art, and… FASHION. John Galliano not only blessed the project, but in a way initiated its birth with a cyclamen bouquet he gifted Anderson at the very beginning of his tenure at the house. The fragile purple flowers – symbols of lasting feelings, sincere affection, and tender love – were not only present in the show’s scenography, but were eternalized by Jean-Pierre Ollier’s atelier, which created thousands of handmade, hand-painted silk flowers. These blooms adorned the collection’s hero accessories: oversized brooches, bomb-shaped earrings, and more.

Above all, this was a couture show that exercised surrealism in the most extraordinary way, turning to the beauty of Mother Nature for inspiration. Dresses were airy like dandelions; skirts could easily be mistaken for hydrangea bushes; 18th-century-inspired portrait brooches were framed with orchids. One silk skirt in a subtle chinoiserie print appeared to explode with tiny green cones. The opening look’s bag referenced a couture hanger, yet it was entirely covered in hand-dyed, extra-long grass.

In the hands of another designer with the same haute couture possibilities, such effects might have veered into saccharine sweetness, or worse, princess-y costume. In Anderson’s, however, the collection struck with delightful eccentricity – and, above all, modernity. This was conveyed effortlessly through cool pink bangs (Sandy Hullett’s work), cocoon-like coats, and astonishing knitted dresses that quite literally flowed down the body. Jonathan Anderson has insisted that, for him, haute couture is something you collect. This enchanting, breathtaking collection could easily stand as the sole subject of a Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition. Yet it also feels confident enough for a beautiful, bold life beyond the museum walls.

Yes – this is exactly what haute couture should be in 2026.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Actually Fashion. Dior Men AW26

Remember my very real concerns about this season’s menswear turning conservative? Jonathan Anderson erased them the second the first look of his sophomore Dior menswear collection hit the runway. It felt like a bow-wow-wow moment of unfiltered fashion that is actually fashion, for Christ’s sake.

The yellow wigs by Guido Palau, à la Pam Hogg, felt like the much-needed final disruption of the contemporary Dior image – one long orchestrated by former creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Kim Jones. Goodbye neatness and primness; hello decadence, flamboyance, drama. This collection cut the umbilical cord to anything preppy, veering into directions nobody could have fathomed. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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