Frederick Anderson Fall 2021

A week before his show, Frederick Anderson shared a preview sketch and a few words about the collection with Fashion Reverie. He spoke of his lifelong love affair with New York City which started when he was 15, spending summers there to study dance at the Joffrey Ballet. Ever since then, the Big Apple has served as a source of inspiration, most especially for this latest collection.

Anderson’s fall 2021 show is one of hope and rebirth for the latter half of 2021. He references different periods of what fashion looked like through the decades he’s lived in New York, from the Seventies to the present day. The background for the runway show/film was shot in a warehouse that looked like the ones so many young creatives and college students flocked to in the Eighties, attracted by the cheap rents.

The clothes themselves are light and airy, pieces that allow for movement as we begin to reenergize and move towards increased socialization and activities post-pandemic. Fabrics ranged for slinky satins, luxurious tweeds, lame, and lots of delicate hand-crocheted sweaters and dresses. Batwing sleeves, cowl necks, gaucho pants, a baby doll top, and the powder blue eyeshadow the models wore harkened back to the1970s.  The 1980s were referenced with black and white tweeds reminiscent of Karl Lagerfeld’s redo of Chanel’s traditional tweed suits which he perfected in 1992. Nineties references came in the form of a lame pantsuit and lace and crochet dusters.

Anderson brought the collection to the present, recognizing that we want something more, as we prepare to venture out, but still crave the comfort the sweats we’ve been cocooning in for the past year.  He showed an easy cobalt satin dress and a pantsuit that work for going out or staying in. Strongest in show were the delicate crochet pieces, especially #17, the horizontal multi-colored long dress and #4, a cream camel and gray poncho trimmed in black that’s a perfect fall transition piece. All in all, Anderson’s latest collection is a fitting tribute to the city he loves.

 ­­­—Vivian Kelly