Announced earlier this year at the height of the European summer, Uniqlo has joined hands with award-winning Irish designer JW Anderson to bring a touch of luxury to the masses via a Spring/Summer capsule encompassing menswear, womenswear and accessories. The collection – Uniqlo’s second dalliance with Anderson since 2021 – arrives on Australian shores this month.
For those playing at home, Anderson is considered something of a prodigy in the fashion industry’s capital-F segment. Between his own eponymous LVMH-backed label and commercially explosive output at Loewe, few designers are working quite so hard or prolifically.
Your garden variety bloke might be at pains to give a shit, but I guarantee that every single stylish woman you know (and their Net-a-Porter account) is at least aware of Anderson’s signature designs: from the beloved “puzzle” handbag to his irreverent resortwear partnership with Paula’s of Ibiza.
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For our purposes, the latest Uniqlo team-up goes hard on shirting. Anderson’s known penchant for baggy silhouettes and design motifs that don’t take themselves too seriously plays out big across the menswear side. Pieces like the oversized chambray short-sleeve are a great vibe for beating the pavement, while Anderson’s loose nautical theme finds its way into outerwear pieces like a colour-blocked blouson (available in blue or olive).
In typical Uniqlo fashion, none of the menswear releases are aggressively fashun. Instead, the emphasis is on closet staples like sweatshirts and button-downs: things that can be thrown on at a moment’s notice, in almost any everyday setting. That’s certainly ideal if you’re more of an accessories guy anyway – so you can let your wrist game or fragrance of choice do the talking. You can browse through all the menswear that’s being offered in the collab below.
The full Uniqlo x JW Anderson collection is now available online or at selected Uniqlo flagships including Emporium, Chadstone, Mid City and Queen St (Brisbane).
