“My whole thing this year was about getting my customer in,” said Frederick Anderson at a preview of this pre-fall collection. “It’s about finding out where they are, what they’re doing, and getting there.” Anderson’s client is not in town during the summer months, they are on vacation. “Pre-fall is now my second refuge,” he stated. His logic is convincing: it’s not just that his wife is traveling, but that, as he has noticed, she is no longer “pre-shopping.” “The customer now buys things when they need them, maybe in a month or two, but they don’t buy until the fall. for autumn, but for summer.”
And so Anderson designed for the summer holidays, usually cutting away the body to let it breathe. His signature knitwear took center stage here in the form of cover-ups and poolside separates. For the evening, Anderson draped loosely and with comfort in mind, most convincingly in a lavender sequin and embroidered kaftan-style dress. When it comes to texture, Anderson was smart to layer laces over sequins for a touch of sparkle. “Everyone talks about quiet luxury, but my client doesn’t, they still do frontalthey just don’t do it in public anymore” – call it “hidden luxury” instead.
As Anderson continues to strive to meet his wife where she is, he also has to think about how he communicates about his clothes. There is a buoyancy to this collection and the silky curtains and lace components that don’t quite shine through in this lookbook. That said, the designer is in the right headspace as he enters the new year. “We have to make sure we keep her in mind and where she’s going during the season we’re designing for, and that we don’t push ourselves so far that we lose sight of the customer,” Anderson said. “Designers… sometimes we’re six months ahead of them, and that’s true Well, I’m not there yet!”
