Time has officially named their 100 Most Influential People of 2024, and congratulations are in order to one of the UK’s most exciting designers: Jonathan Anderson. Honoured alongside the likes of fellow fashion designer Tory Burch, scientists and researchers, journalists and advocates, CEOs, an architect, and a chef, the Creative Director of Loewe and founder of JW Anderson is acknowledged under the Innovators category for his work bridging fashion with humanity.
Since graduating from the London College of Fashion in 2005 and founding his namesake label just a few years later, the Irish designer has become known not only within the industry, but within broader culture as well. His boundary-pushing designs bring a playful and human-centred approach to luxury, which can often feel out of touch with reality and exclusive to those directly within a minute socioeconomic class.
Just think back to 2020, when a JW Anderson cardigan worn by Harry Styles prompted a surge of TikTok creators to crochet their own. Jumping into the lockdown challenge and embracing the DIY-method, the label shared an “Official ‘Harry Styles’ Cardigan Knitting Tutorial,” with the pattern and all. Turning a £1,250 piece into mainstream fashion, the brand broadened their fanbase to reach not only those who could afford the original, but the trend-setting youth subcultures as well.
Further engaging with the fandoms of the celebrities they dress, Anderson made waves when he dressed Rihanna for her Super Bowl performance, where she famously revealed she was pregnant with her second child. And, most recently, he has been creating buzz around the Challengers film, where he served as costume designer and dressed Zendaya at many stops of the premiere tour.
“What I love about Jonathan Anderson is that he is grounded, and he has an innate understanding of how fashion and human behaviour intertwine,” Challengers director Luca Guadagnino said for Time. “Jonathan is one of the most intelligent, empathetic, and curious people I know, but he also has a wonderful sense of humour, and a capacity not to take himself too seriously.”
