“It’s about not being scared of your own brand’s DNA.”
Presented on the first day of Paris Fashion Week at Lafayette Anticipations, the JW ANDERSON Autumn/Winter 2020 collection found part of its inspiration in "Arthur Rimbaud in New York", a series by photographer David Wojnarowicz.
In these pictures, the photographer portrayed people wearing a mask of the poet Arthur Rimbaud in different New York places. In the same way, some mannequins were wearing the very same mask in the venue and some pictures of them were shared as well on the brand social media before the show.
“I’ve always been very inspired by his work. It could be very dark but I think there was still some optimism there. He had a political voice but not just for the sake of it. It was about creativity coming through a political voice.”
For Autumn/Winter 2020 JW Anderson collaborates with VisualAIDS, an organization whose aim is to raise awareness and support HIV+ artists, creating a jumper featuring an image of another work by David Wojnarowicz.
This sketch, created backstage, is part of my Paris Fashion Week AW20 live illustrated coverage for L'Officiel Hommes Italia.