ANDERSON, J.W. Show in a Box.

(London): JW Anderson / OK‑RM, 2020.  First edition.  Softcover.  30cm by 30cm.  Unpaginated.  For the spring/summer 2001 season fashion brands were forced to get creative when it came to showing their collections. As the Covid pandemic impacted the world, restrictions that limited the possibilities for fashion shows, travel and events had been enforced, meaning that fashion week was a no-no.  For Anderson it was a chance to get inventive.  Presenting his SS21 collection for JW Anderson as a “show in a box,” the designer’s eponymous label sent boxes with a bound book inside, that included different types of paper, photos, colored sheets as well as the full lookbook. With a brass coin featured on the front, the fastenings holding the book together could be removed to unveil the deconstructed experience, allowing the viewer to physically create their own show and build their own installation. “[It] is a celebration of fashion at its most frivolous, embellished, poetic; escapist and liberating, even. The outburst of lightness – both metaphorical and real – is framed within the classic sense of poise and elegance which has become a JW Anderson signature.  The contents include the lookbook, fabrics, C-prints by Lewis Ronald (each in an edition of 125 copies), a coin to dismantle the book so that it can be re-assembled in numerous formats,  a string for hanging items.  All items housed in publisher’s printed card box.  Ingenious.