1 MONCLER JW ANDERSON SS23 | Clash Play

Merging an experimental sensibility with frank straightforwardness, JW Anderson is the herald of youth-charged, gender-defying playfulness. His work connects with what’s going on in the liveliest strata of society, and is charged with vibrant energy.

This season, Jonathan Anderson’s collection for Moncler is a concise exploration of youth culture carried through a blunt clashing of colors and textures. Volumes are oversized, whilst keeping an eye on reality. As ever, the offer cuts fluidly across genders, coming across as eminently open and free. Silhouettes are relaxed, with a slightly grunge aftertaste in the carefree mingling of lengths and textures, weights and surfaces, matt and shiny, appliqué and collage. Playful embellishments are an invitation to summer a little more wildly: macramé flower patches, charming graphics, leo-print teddy bears, and crochet details speak to an easy, breezy new season.

The puffer jacket is rendered in buttery nappa leather, while sailing jackets come in rubberized, high-shine scarlet and navy technical linen. Cotton canvas jackets and vests come lightly down-filled, with statement branded zipper tags: canvas tags for the jackets and leather tags for the vests. 70s-esque track co-ords bring a downtime sports element to the collection and can be mixed and matched with the wider designs. Looks are layered, further enhancing contrasts and juxtapositions: vests are worn over puffers; zip-up fleeces in deadpan pink leopard print peek from beneath shiny blousons; crafty patchwork cardigans flash under technical cotton jackets.

High-shine slickness is juxtaposed with teddy fleece textures, as technical cotton and waxed linen are mixed with wool and technical jersey, in an optimistic palette of neutrals, earthy greens, browns and blues lit with dashes of pink.

Accessories strengthen the grungy mood: padded Nimbus slippers, oversized bucket hats, a trio of exuberant appliqué and graphic totes in canvas and leather, a dinky flower-power coin purse. A youthful energy emerges out of a carefully curated burst of clash play.