At 8.30 this morning only a handful of dedicated fans had gathered outside the doors of Oxford Circus to queue for the launch of the JW Anderson collection. Ive been here since 7.30 am, laughed Rowena Clarke, an intern at Matthew Williamson who was the first to arrive. Ive set myself a maximum of 5 pieces but I love JW Anderson so much I will probably come out of here with bags of the stuff.
Towards 9 oclock a more substantial crowd began to assemble, formed of recognisable industry faces: stylists, PRs, and a strong contingent from Topshop head office. Theyve allowed us to come down before work, said Vicky, who works on the merchandising team, so Ive got a list of things to buy for various people the milkmaid dress is top of my list.
Once the doors opened to what had turned into a well-dressed crowd of about 60 people, the milkmaid dress turned out to be top of most peoples lists. Staff dressed in the cute Peter Pan collar dresses proved a strong selling point for the dress, but those in search of something a little punkier were well rewarded with the tartan tees, bat jumpers and anchor motif shirts.
Top pieces were the tartan trousers, narrow stripe cotton dresses and the leather sleeve varsity jackets.
Photography student Clytie had saved up for a month to splash out at the store. I went to the JW Anderson sample sale earlier this year and they are my favourite things to wear, so I wanted to restock my wardrobe today.
And judging by the amount of bloggers, journalists and industry types shopping furiously for the prize pieces, well be seeing bat jumpers and paisley tops all over the style blogs this
