J.W. Anderson

J.W. Anderson

fashion designer

interview by PAULA GOLDSTEIN
portrait by SIMON DI PRINCIPE

 

Jonathan William Anderson, the boyishly good-looking 28-year-old from Northern Ireland at the helm of one of fashion’s hottest new brands, has risen swiftly through the industry ranks. He was offered a job as a window dresser for Prada one month after enrolling at the London College of Fashion. By 2008, his eponymous menswear label J.W. Anderson was launched; a women’s line followed two years later. Both lines traffic in futuristic, androgynous designs that have garnered widespread critical acclaim. This fall Jonathan was chosen as the top-ranking designer in the British Fashion Council’s NEWGEN showcase.

PAULA GOLDSTEIN — Is there a reason the brand is called J.W. Anderson? Not many people actually know you as Jonathan. Are you hiding yourself?
JONATHAN ANDERSON — Kind of. I wanted to build a brand straight away….