If there’s one thing Jonathan Anderson masters, it is the ability to transform an artist’s work and translate it into wearable garments. Just in the past seasons, he’s adapted the work of choreographer Michael Clark for his namesake label’s Fall/Winter 2023 and sculptor Lynda Benglis for Loewe’s last menswear collection. So, when hours before JW Anderson’s Menswear Fall/Winter 2024, the designer posted an Instagram story with a screenshot of Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut”, our ears perked up. Might it be a teaser? Well, obviously. What walked down the runway was a collection that was brimming with the movie’s sexual tension but that retained the designer’s signature flair.

For the show’s first look, the Irish designer fulfilled an inescapable prophecy: the no-pants trend has reached menswear. Models walked out in oversized knit jumpers and sheer black tights with what some call built-in shorts that suspiciously resemble control top pantyhose. The otherwise simple sweaters are paired with enormous poinsettia flowers on the lapel.

If only the sexual tension of the movie is conveyed at first, the source material becomes increasingly apparent as the collection progresses. The paintings seen on the walls of the movie’s set, all done by the director’s wife, Christiane Kubrick, find their way into pompous blouses and knit dresses.

Anderson’s surrealist flair isn’t absent, playing with extremes on the runway. Looks that consist only of the aforementioned tights are followed by cartoonishly oversized outfits. There’s a return of one of the brand’s favourites in the ruffled skorts, this time in fine knit with contrasting silk hems.

Words by Pedro Vasconcelos

JW ANDERSON FW24

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