J.W Anderson A/W'13 - The Ladyboy Can't Help It

And so J.W. Anderson’s rampant feminisation of traditional men’s clothing continues apace.  We’ve all seen the photos in the Mail and had a bit of a giggle, but it’s time to sit down and take a serious look. Leapfrogging Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, who are content to just add some girly touches to their somewhat severe aesthetic, Anderson has pushed the boundaries even further than previous collections.

My notes from the show say it all. “Ruffled skorts”, “moobtubes”, “kinky boots”, “MANSHIFTS” (underlined) – if all this sounds like gobbledy-gook then don’t blame me, it’s Anderson who is redefining the language of British menswear.

Dresses for men? Or merely long-line shirts and tunics? The more we look the more everything falls into place. Anderson’s designs have always had a pandrogenous edge, so it’s even less of a surprise when we cast our minds back to his Spring/Summer 2013 collection for women, which also featured those frilled formal shorts and strapless numbers, albeit in a more expected setting.

Whilst the more extreme experiments with gender may have garnered most of the copy, there are actually some pieces which won’t scare the horses. Polite wide trousers with enlarged pockets on the outside for instance, worn with a figure-hugging top featuring a pectoral-enhancing dart at the front, or the contrast-trimmed overcoats. Sorbet shades, aqua, and cobalt blue disrupt the calm neutrality of the palette.

As “an examination of bourgeois kinkiness and boudoir perversity” this collection succeeds by repeating a few simple ideas. But once again, repetition is a symptom of obsession, the most perverse form of desire there is. Whether this is a comment on the desirability of designer clothing, or the human form in general, is anyone’s guess.

Review written by Lee Clatworthy (@TeamChutzpah) for Katie Chutzpah blog. Catwalk photography by Rory van Millingen