Call him the king of the unexpected. J.W. Anderson delivered a surprising footwear collection today at his fall ’17 men’s show during London Fashion Week, adding swatches of technicolor crochets onto the tongues of slip-on sneakers. The collection looked back in time for its design references this season, taking cues from the 1970s and even the Middle Ages (there was warrior imagery throughout and tunics galore).
The 1970s-style crochets were offered in several interpretations. The multicolored sneaker tongues were, of course, the most impactful and matched the scarves and ready-to-wear pieces. There was also solid-colored crochets, such as a black or olive green, which suggested a more wearable approach to Anderson’s new sneaker idea. Will we soon see London’s crop of cool kids sporting the styles, their crocheted sneaker tongues dragging on the rainy pavement?
Elsewhere in the collection, there were simple olive green low-top sneakers with eyelet details. Laceless leather boots with pointy toes flashed back to the Middle Ages theme. Last season, the designer’s footwear collection was a tad more tame. His spring ’17 line included sneaker-boot hybrids in brown or purple. The season before, Anderson experimented with boxing boot silhouettes.
See more photos from the runway.
