JW Anderson SS22 Tells a Story About Coming-of-Age

In light of the ongoing pandemic, Jonathan Anderson took it upon himself to rethink how his collections for his eponymous label JW Anderson should be presented — and for Spring/Summer 2022, the designer has come full-circle, presenting pictures within pictures (within pictures) that have been shot by Juergen Teller.

Anderson and Teller have worked together numerous times now, previously delivering the designer’s FW21 collection. SS22 continues the theme of a “Show in a Box” (something HYPEBEAST learned more about when we sat down with Anderson to discuss the SS21 collection), yet this season it has evolved — the concept is more familiar, touching, and youthful than ever before. Presented in a photo box, you’ll find prints encased in frames of different styles and sizes that are meant to remind us of school photos. Speaking on this, Anderson said, “I liked this idea of creating something which felt a bit like going back to school… When I was younger, we used to get our pictures taken at school and you’d get these packs of photos and frames. I liked that concept of each of the photos being able to stand on their own. You could even put it on your mantelpiece.”

Wrapped in custom paper depicting an 18th-century painting of a squirrel eating an acorn next to a bowl of strawberries, the presentation is nothing short of a visual spectacle — and the collection follows suit, too.

“This season we have focused on this idea of, nearly in the bedroom. The kind of the glorification of being who you are or what you want to be: the idea of the privacy of the individual,” said Anderson when speaking on the collection. Pink, green, yellow, poppy red, electric blue, orange, lavender and magenta feature prominently throughout both the men’s and women’s collections, injecting youthfulness, all while intersecting that coming-of-age of sexual maturity, exploration, and fun.

For example, Anderson and Teller’s protagonist is a “lad.” As the press release explains, this “lad” is “caught in the moment when sexuality awakens, captured in states of altered domesticity, complete with beaded curtain dresses.” Directly referring to a piece in the collection (the beaded dress that combines red, blue, and yellow balls to create a retro, floral pattern, crossing gender-conforming lines), we see that the SS22 collection is all about ambiguity and adolescence.

With this in mind, you could wear the new collection at home or for a night out. A fleecy navy blue tracksuit covered in strawberries is undoubtedly comfy, yet somehow very ’90s rave scene too, while the acid yellow and hot pink touches on the cable knit sweater once again confuse and combine this at home but rave-ready attitude.

Taking everything to the extreme is the pillow dress, which is quite literally, exactly what it looks like and says. Completing the upcoming season’s look is a collaboration with eyewear specialist Persol, as well as a new range of slides and loafers in this season’s biggest colors: green and pink.

Altogether, JW Anderson SS22 is playful, experimental, daring, yet somehow familiar and welcoming. Take a look at the Juergen Teller-shot campaign above, and hear more about the collection from Jonathan Anderson himself above, too.

In case you missed it, Saint Laurent has also just unveiled its very expressive FW21 collection.