5 things you can find only on Jonathan Anderson's IG profile

«I can concentrate on two things at the same time,» shares Jonathan Anderson, creative director of Loewe and JW Anderson, with Luke Leitch, a historic signature of Vogue US. Indeed, his personal biography reflects unconditional dualities: besides taking on the creative direction of two brands, the Northern Irish designer mostly divides his time between London and Paris. He advocates a creative vision where business and art can be seen as inseparable. The switch between Paris and London, Loewe and JW Anderson, creativity and revenue, happens in a minute on the Eurostar - «they are two completely different projects.» A degree earned in 2005 from the London College of Fashion in menswear design led him straight to Prada in the visual department under the guidance of Miuccia Prada and Manuela Pavesi. In 2008, he returned to menswear design, launching his first menswear collection. «One to keep an eye on,» already in 2010, according to the Newgen Committee of the British Fashion Council, a talent to invest in for the British editorial ecosystem, and an early fanbase that immediately demanded collections signed by the designer: Jonathan Anderson's professional path has benefited from good feedback and support from the start. This led to the second sponsorship from Newgen, the appointment as Emerging Talent, Ready-to-wear by the British Fashion Council in 2012, and numerous accolades that culminated in being elected as International Designer of the Year at the CFDA Awards 2023.

Anderson has been the undisputed protagonist of 2023 - his clothes contributed to the construction of Renaissance iconography for Beyoncé, accompanied Rihanna's performance at the Super Bowl last February, and outlined the contours of Maggie Smith, the star of a Loewe campaign devoured on social media in an instant. He finally fulfilled any designer's dream: shaping a silhouette. We thus queried his Instagram feed, aware that the profiles of creative directors have become strategic assets for the storytelling of fashion houses.

Here, therefore, are 5 things you can find only on Jonathan Anderson's IG profile.

1. The canary-shaped bag

Over time, Anderson has accustomed us to eccentric silhouettes, impactful designs, and products destined to go viral. After keeping us firmly grounded with JW clogs with gold chains, making us fly with the pigeon-shaped bag, entering the digital realm with Loewe's pixelated sweatshirts, or bringing back a real environment with grass growing from the clothes, it was recently the turn of the canary-shaped bag. «Back to work» reads under the reel posted on his personal account, tagging the JW Anderson brand. It could be a leak kindly granted about the January 14th show at MFW or, more simply, a confirmation of his modus operandi: «my job is to build something on stone, otherwise, I would do a terrible design job if it were to collapse.»

2. Jacob Elordi jumping in a JW cardigan

Harry Styles made it viral in 2020, wearing it at the presentation of his single Watermelon Sugar at The Today Show at the Rockefeller Plaza in New York. That checkerboard cardigan not only became the object of desire for DIY enthusiasts and lovers of bright colors but also ended up in the permanent collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. While Anderson had shared a tutorial on YouTube for fans of the British singer to make a perfect copy, in Jacob Elordi's case, the tip is on styling and fitting: just literally jump into it, as evidenced by the video in which you hear, in the background, the voice of Euphoria screenwriter Jeremy O. Harris. The designer's creative manifesto is right around the corner: putting ideas, movement, and the sense of inhabiting a garment at the center.

3. A pumpkin by Hamilton Anthea

Scrolling through his feed, among a Loewe campaign or more intimate posts, the eye lingers on a photo of a pumpkin. As Anderson specifies in the caption, it is actually a reference to the work of the British artist Anthea Hamilton, whose pumpkin was selected by the Loewe creative director himself to celebrate the reopening of Casa Loewe Omotesando in Tokyo. The visual was conceived as a collector's house where Hamilton's Giant Pumpkin No. 7, originally designed for the FW22 Loewe fashion show, is alongside ceramics by Picasso, Bernard Leach, and Lucia Rie. «In the next 10 years, I think fashion and art will get closer and closer because I believe that both will begin to rely on each other for advertising and endorsement,» explained the designer to Luke Leitch. «And art is not the easiest thing because... you have to be obsessed with understanding what is happening and what is interesting right now to understand what is really important right now.»

4. A photo of Luca Guadagnino

A painting by L.S. Lowry in the background of the Offer Waterman art gallery and Italian director Luca Guadagnino in a white shirt with blue stripes - synthesized, in an Instagram post by Jonathan Anderson, with «Guadagnino x Lowry». A collaboration that, from the camera, takes shape in the wardrobe script of the designer tasked with creating costumes for Challengers and then for Queer, adaptations of William S. Burroughs' book. «Jonathan is the most surprisingly intelligent person I know. He is so smart and has an incredible sense of irony, so disarming and deep» confessed director Luca Guadagnino. «For me, the unknown, the uncomfortable, the experiment are extremely important. I feel that this is what Jonathan is talking about. The beauty of risk, we could say. But at the same time, Jonathan is strategic in a way that is never taken for granted. He is like a general. Yes, there is something wonderfully military about him.»

5. A photo with an Irish rugby national team jersey

It's not just any rugby jersey, nor a trend akin to the current blokecore: the tee that Anderson wore during the presentation of the JW SS24 fashion show in Milan is a tribute to his father Willie, a former rugby player. «Happy Father's Day, Dad» writes the creative director of JW Anderson - ambition and the value of recognition were directly transmitted to him. «Everyone loves recognition, and anyone who pretends not to loves it even more. I am very honored. I have been working for quite some time now, and I feel like I have given my best to get here. I love (my) job. And I also like being able to change along the way because I always think that when things are going really well, you have to change them. And that's the hardest thing.»