The designer discusses his latest collaboration and decade-long obsession with the two artists, whose anti-elitist sentiment is more resonant than ever
- TextJack Moss
Jonathan Anderson first encountered the work of British art duo Gilbert & George when he came to London in his early twenties to study at London College of Fashion – though there was something about their provocative images which reminded him of home in Northern Ireland. “In Belfast, you have a lot of murals, and in a weird way there was something that was very Northern Irish about their work,” he explains. “Not political per se, but overbearing, almost.” Since then, the artists have become an object of fascination for the designer – something that has culminated in a 25-piece capsule collection, featuring three 1980s-era works from the artists.
Mining the subversive undercurrent which runs through much of Gilbert & George’s work – itself known for an anti-elitist sentiment and seductive depictions of the male body – the pieces, ranging from printed t-shirts and tunics to accessories, have a distinctly countercultural feel. One t-shirt, in latex, is printed with their 1988 work Heavy; another sweatshirt with a helmutted “leather daddy” from 1980’s Guard Plants (the third artwork, also from 1980, is Dog Boy). Anderson says he came to the garments by imagining what the boys in those artworks might wear today.
The artists themselves, who have lived in Spitalfields since the 60s, gladly lent their works to the project, having discussed it over lunch with the designer. Anderson had been convinced that they’d say no, but apparently they were intrigued by the idea of having their art transposed onto clothing, and happy for their works to be split into composite parts. Sometime later, longtime collaborator and Another Man contributor Alasdair McLellan photographed the collection at the pair’s 18th-century townhouse, among their Arts & Crafts furniture (which they collect, much like Anderson).
“I think they are making some of their best work now,” Anderson says, though it was the selection of work from the 1980s, each of which explores a tenet of masculinity, or queerness, that felt particularly resonant to him. “They can distill things in a way that softens something which is quite aggressive, and I think that’s quite beautiful in that way. I grew up in Northern Ireland and being gay in Northern Ireland was not ideal, but I think their work – the colour – beautifies it, and makes it really relatable between two people.”
Anderson describes himself as “obsessed” with the duo’s output and, as such, the collection has been percolating in his mind for some time – though a current political climate proved the tipping point. “Even if you’re sitting at dinner with someone or you’re talking there’s two things that’ll probably come up, one will be Trump and the other will be Brexit,” he says. “I’m not a political person but it does affect you – you know, I love London, I love England, I love being in Britain. But there is no such thing as solid leadership anymore on either side; there’s no one who I believe in terms of modern leadership.”
“In a situation like this you have to change the way you see things, and I think Gilbert & George are example of that in what they do. They show an unfiltered version of what life is. I think today there has to be a ‘non-filter’ for us to progress,” he continues. “Elitism is not working anywhere, it’s not working in America, it’s definitely not working in France. Gilbert & George have been putting this anxiety into the picture, and they’ve been doing it for years.”
JW Anderson X Gilbert & George is available from Matches now.
