Frederick Anderson (Q4084)
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Frederick Anderson is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Frederick Anderson |
Frederick Anderson is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
It’s not uncommon to leave a fashion show thinking, That was nice, but who can wear those clothes? And who is going to buy them? No one leaves a Frederick Anderson show thinking that, though. Partly because his collections are so clearly conceived with his well-heeled, well-traveled, women-about-town clients in mind, but also because those clients are a striking presence in his front row—swapping air kisses and summer vacation tales before taking their seats. Such was the scene when Anderson presented his spring collection at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music.There, models walked the runway in looks heavily inspired by Anderson’s many trips to North Africa, namely Marrakech and Tangier. “Even though my clients are destination clients, I do like to take them on adventures and try to teach them a little bit,” Anderson said the day before at his Flatiron boutique and studio. The first lesson was in robe dressing and the region’s “heritage of ease”: light-as-a-feather Egyptian linen employed for a trench and wide-leg trousers, a cream duster in Anderson’s signature crochet. “This is a fabric that would be in North Africa in the market,” he explained of a striped, multicolored jacquard, “but I reinvented it in Italy to make it a little bit softer and lighter so that it’s a garment fabric as opposed to a tapestry fabric.” Anderson made delightful use of it for Look 11, an overcoat and matching front-pocket shorts.“You start off with this lightness, and then we get into this glamour, which I love,” Anderson explained. Those designs include a dazzling beaded vest and capelet combo (a collaboration with wearable art designer Colette Harmon) and a sexy red leopard-print dress with sequined and leather details. Black lace dresses with fringe and feathers would be fit for a desert party that’ll go on until daybreak.Beyond reflecting on his travels, Anderson is keen on his collections embracing various cultures—especially during a time in America when “we’re not embracing anyone,” he said. “We keep talking about ourselves and we forget that there’s a globe.” His spring offering was an apt and sophisticated reminder.
13 September 2024
Frederick Anderson inaugurated a new boutique and atelier in the NoMad neighborhood of Manhattan this spring. The space operates as both a store and Anderson’s working space, and represents an effort by the designer to strengthen his already tight bond with his customers, many of which he counts with as friends.This new proximity shaped Anderson’s resort collection. He explained: “We are thinking six months in advance, so by the time this ships in December we are going to be just past the November election and in need of a sense of balance and simplicity while in such a crazy turmoil.” His thinking, he said, was to create something simple and light, that evokes the idea of looseness.Anderson simmered his collection down to the essentials: broderie anglaise jumpsuits and separates, billowy blouses and skirts, and a couple of gowns with lace or leather accents, plus some pastel florals and knits for a dash of play. It’s the opposite of a statement, the designer explained: “We have too many statements now, we live in a montage of negativity and false information, so instead of making a statement, I wanted a breather.”
9 July 2024
For his fall collection, Frederick Anderson pondered the way in which cultures can come together, choosing music as the vehicle to tell his story. “It’s about this idea that blues led us to country music that led us to rock ’n’ roll,” said Anderson of his collection. “It’s a story of the progression and integration of these ideas and cultures.”Anderson offered his usual melange of fabrications, focusing the first half of his show on wispy lace dresses, sheer slips, and prim blouses paired with leather micro shorts, bralettes, and his signature crochet separates. It was in the second half of his lineup where Anderson found his groove. There was a modernity to his wool and leather mashups in capes, dresses, and trousers, and his silk and jersey draped styles felt focused and guided by the lifestyle of the women he knows and wants to dress. A sequined column gown and a kaftan in matching fabric showcased his technical skill and were the rare kind of option for evening that offers both elegance and ease. It must be said that Anderson’s styling did not do him justice this season—the choice of wigs, a mix between Dolly Parton and Joan Jett, was distracting if still on theme.Anderson looked at his musical analogy as an example of the way in which two disparate cultures can merge together and evolve in unison. “It’s 2024 and we can’t even get along with our next door neighbors,” he said. “If we don’t learn to integrate cultures, we’re at a loss.”
14 February 2024
“My whole thing this year has been about securing my customer,” Frederick Anderson said at a preview of this pre-fall collection. “It’s about finding out where they are, what they’re doing, and moving towards them.” Anderson’s customer aren’t staying in the city over the summer months, they’re vacationing. “Pre-fall, is now my second resort,” he declared. His logic is convincing: It’s not just that his woman is traveling, but that, as he’s noticed, she isn’t “pre-shopping” anymore. “The client now buys stuff when they need it, maybe a month out or two, but they’re not buying pre-fallforfall, but for the summer.”And so Anderson designed for summer holidays, most often cutting away from the body to let it breathe. His signature knitwear took the starring role here in the shape of poolside cover-ups and separates. For evening, Anderson draped loosely and with comfort in mind, most compellingly in a lavender sequin and embroidered caftan-like gown. When it comes to texture, Anderson was clever to layer laces over sequin fabrications for just a hint of sparkle. “Everyone is talking about quiet luxury, but my client isn’t doing that, they’re stillfull on, they just don’t do it in public anymore”—call it “hidden luxury” instead.As Anderson continues to strive to meet his woman where she’s at, he should also consider how he communicates about his clothes. There is a buoyancy to this collection and its silky drapes and lacy separates that doesn’t quite translate in this lookbook. That said, the designer is in the right headspace as he enters the new year. “We have to make sure to have her in mind and where she’s going during the season we’re designing for and not push ourselves so far that we’re losing sight of the client,” said Anderson. “Designers…sometimes we’re six months ahead of them, and they’rewell, I’m not there yet!”
7 December 2023
Frederick Anderson first came to New York City to study dance when he was only 16 years old. A night out at the ballet to watch his friend Catherine Hurlin, the principal at the American Ballet Theatre, late last year resurfaced memories of his time as a dancer. “I just sat there weeping,” said Anderson after his runway show today. “The great thing about New York is that it takes us on a journey, and you never know where you’ll end up.” Anderson shifted from the stage to the runway over the course of his career, but the idea of movement has remained at the core of what he does.For spring, he landed onSwan Lakeand began musing on the idea of the swan both as a character in Tchaikovsky’s story and as one in his own life. Truman Capote used to refer to his coterie of high-society female friends as swans, and spring saw Anderson ruminate on the women in his life—his very own swan lake—what they wore when he was younger, what they wear now that he dresses them, and what they’ll wear next year from this collection.“What I really wanted to make is clothing,” he said, “I wanted to get back to the art of making clothes, the story here is that I’ve been in the industry for 20 years and I can make a garment.” Anderson is an adept draper. Most convincing in this lineup were the moments where he leaned into this skill: A couple of tan crepe dresses, some lace fabrications, and a sheer green sequin slip. It was where he let his swans soar that Anderson found his own wings this season.
13 September 2023
“It’s just FUN!” Frederick Anderson exclaimed backstage at the resort 2024 runway show for his eponymous label. “It’s resort, it’s holiday, it’s about having fun.”Hosted at the Nebula, a futuristic nightclub in Times Square, the show opened and closed with performances by Natasha Bedingfield, who belted out two of her most popular hits: “Unwritten” and “Pocketful of Sunshine.” The musician and the designer first connected after she attended one of his shows, after which they decided to “do something together,” and so this special partnership came about.This season, Anderson took us to outer space: There were disco ball astronaut helmets, stardust-like lurex knits, and airy, silky frocks in nebula-esque colors. To inform his silhouettes, the designer looked at “the future as we saw it in the late ’80s and ’90s,” with Geoffrey Beene and his cutouts being another reference. The latter was the most present in the way Anderson stylized the backs of his dresses with concave style lines and in cutouts on his lace sheaths.For day, the designer offered cargo pants and micro shorts in deep navy denim. They sat well with his knit separates, which remain some of his most compelling work, and where this season he best captured that elusive day-to-night appeal. For evening, he presented a run of weightlessly draped silk numbers, some of which felt ready to be worn to the very same club we were in. Elsewhere, Anderson continued to be as inventive as ever with lace, looking to merge it with silks, knitwear, and embellishments.But the most convincing look of all was Bedingfield’s opening stage look, a pair of denim cargo pants paired with a fringed lurex crocheted top (both of which walked the show). With many Frederick Anderson customers in attendance, it was the most impactful realization of the designer’s vision in action. Later, once the runway segment wrapped and Bedingfield stepped off-stage, the lights went down and the after-party began. As I walked out of the jam-packed room, I was told the Mayor was on his way in.
26 May 2023
Frederick Anderson titled his fall 2023 collection “Renaissance.”Like the time period, or the Beyoncé album? You may be asking yourselves. “Well, both!” He answered backstage with a laugh before turning more solemn: “It’s my fifth anniversary, and it’s been a tough five years, so now this is my renaissance of going through the dark ages and into enlightenment.”But Anderson has also been spending a lot of time in Europe, he said, so he inevitably found inspiration in its history. Drape was an overarching theme of this collection, something he explored with lustrous raffia gathered delicately in sleeves or bunched up and tacked in elegantly deflated bubble hems, and with airy silk crepes and chiffons draped loosely and with intention. A reduced color palette grounded in black and white with violet accents and some gold and blue enabled Anderson to make cut the focal point of his lineup. Gold embroidered laces, as well as shiny jacquards and his signature alpaca mohair knits rounded up the assortment and provided texture. And while Anderson’s hand tends to lean more evening, some of his proposals here would serve a daywear wardrobe well. Much has changed in the world of “day-to-night,” after all, and Anderson seems to understand what his customer looks at him for in this space.To continue his expansion and to look ahead after this renaissance, the designer also turned his eye to menswear, offering a range of looks in the same vein as his womenswear: Sexy, confident, and unafraid to go all out.“We always borrow from the past, but we don’t live there, so how do we push ourselves forward?” He asked while describing his inspiration. Fall saw Anderson distill his learnings from the past—both from his own personal history and the world’s—in order to move forward. No better mindset to kick-off the next five years than to be determined to look ahead while being conscious of where he’s been.
16 February 2023
Of all the feedback Frederick Anderson received about his spring 2023 collection, one rang the loudest: “it’s so feminine!”“But I never set out to make a feminine collection, or consider my label solely focused on femininity,” he said at his sales showroom. His pre-fall is grounded in choices. Anderson continues to work with Argentina-made alpaca mohair knits, this time around molding them into daywear separates and sexy evening dresses. He also has an affinity for draped silks, which he shaped into a tracksuit, a range of day-to-night options, and cocktail-ready frocks. Sheer animal print and lace added visual novelty to the collection. He also worked with tactile tweed, leather, and a pair of opulent feathery skirts. A tighter edit on the material front might have aided his overarching vision.“This woman comes here for some unique pieces, but now I’m looking at what the modern way of making these pieces is. What is the evolution of how women are thinking?” A good question to start asking now and resolve for fall.
13 December 2022
Spring sees Frederick Anderson seeking to evolve along with his customer. As the designer said backstage before his show, he believes that the well-off, Upper East Side-type of woman he dresses has changed over the last few years. She’s more progressive, less stuffy, he said, so he aimed for his clothes to reflect that while still being true to his design ethos.This rang true where he continued to explore his signature crochet knits, and where he loosened up his tailoring and evening confections with airy silks cut to elegantly sway away from the body. Where the collection felt less in service to his efforts was with the less straightforward looks. A series of floral decorations felt slightly heavy handed.Anderson opened his show with a series of images of Black Lives Matters and queer rights protests, a nod to the more progressive perspective with which he is looking to align. But the first model walking out in towering platform stilettos felt slightly off-message. Anderson has the eye and the skill to take his brand to where he envisions it, what it’ll take is for him to refine the full picture as he’s evolved its separate components.
13 September 2022
“It feels like so much is happening right now, and I’m way too sensitive to all of it,” Frederick Anderson said during a preview. “I’m definitely feeling the blues, I think we all are, but I’m trying to work through the malaise.” To accomplish this, he leaned into a celebratory mood, one informed by the many custom requests he says he is receiving for weddings. His color palette was built—no surprise—on a range of blues, working in pops through color-blocking, embellishments, and specialty fabrics like a jacquard and tweed.Anderson was at his best here creating volume through drape. The lightness of his touch allowed for silks to embrace the body in a way that looked both soft and modern. “We’re all in a soft moment, looking at looseness in the fit,” he said. “Something for the girl who is not wearing structure the way it was done before.” He used piping and seaming to keep garments close without giving pieces a sense of constriction. This was most successful in a denim halter dress with lavender silk binding, and translated the least well in his tailoring, which, cut traditionally close to the body, felt not as loose or soft as he was going for.Elsewhere, he showed his alpaca mohair knits–which are made in Argentina every season–and worked on fabric manipulations as a way of adding texture and visual interest. A light blue denim overstitched with vertical pink stitches, a gunmetal dress that used both knife pleats and sunburst pleats, and a delicately embellished blouse and skirt showed his keenness for detail work.Anderson’s work here was fueled by a deeper understanding of his customer’s lifestyle. “This girl may be uptown or downtown or both, but she’s no longer a lady who lunches,” he said, “I like to call her a lady who cocktails, she has things to do during the day.” While much of his proposal felt evening-oriented (particularly the lace dresses and metallic pleats), his silk separates will serve a day-to-night lifestyle with ease. Wrapping things up, he said, “end use is the most important thing, but it’s important that we don’t let end use take away the excitement and fun.” Agreed.
1 June 2022
Re-emergence dressing has been the recent story of fashion—even if our own return to normal life has gotten off to a strange start. Frederick Anderson’s fall 2022 collection is certainly one destined for going out, with miniskirts, backless dresses, and enough sheer paneling to make even the hottest of Hot Girl Summer practitioners blush.But the big lesson of re-emergence style is that we take one idea from WFH and make it work for IRL. The arrestingly high stilettos felt out of step here, as did some of the more scandalous silhouettes. Anderson’s breezy tweed suiting and knit midi-dresses felt more like how the well-dressed women in his front row might want to look post-2021; ditto for the knit sweaters trimmed in ruffles or pom-poms. Ease has become the name of the game this season, when Anderson loosened up his tailoring and gave his models a little more coverage their struts felt more in step with fashion’s return-to-normal look.
14 February 2022
Pre-fall took Frederick Anderson on a personal journey. Intent on exploring the complexities of American identity within his work, Anderson began to examine his family’s history, unearthing a series of surprises in the process. “In my family, we were always told that we were Black and Native American, so I wanted to do a tribute to the original Americans,” Anderson explained. “I had two uncles who were both very pale with long hair, and that was [attributed] to their Indigenous ancestry. Once I began researching where we all come from, I discovered that was a lie. Miscegenation laws meant Blacks and whites weren’t allowed to intermingle; it was illegal, so everyone said they were Native American to get around that fact. America is built on these kinds of lies, and once you start uncovering them, you see things in a different light.”Eventually, Anderson would discover that he has Nigerian and Irish ancestry. Few things are more American than being descended from immigrants and having to reckon with the nation’s history of racial injustice. Still, the revelation got Anderson thinking about how he could accurately reflect an America that is less melting pot and more pressure cooker. “I had to figure out how my story could be represented visually,” he said. “I’d started with red, white, and blue but ended up working with Irish green and a series of colors that were just slightly off. We had the flag’s stripes but none of the stars; I wanted to deconstruct things and turn everything upside down.”Experimentation led Anderson toward a mélange he dubbed Immigrant Story. A kinetic mix of textures, patterns, and color, the lineup thrums with energy, even when the pieces skew subdued. At heart, Anderson is a classicist, so even when he’s delivering short shorts and completely transparent dresses, the clothes maintain a level of restraint. This allows him to incorporate revealing elements—a mesh dress, a scarlet jumpsuit with a cutout that crosses the entire chest—without seeming outré or vulgar. Anderson’s woman isn’t looking for attention, but she’s sure to get it in his 3-D crochet crop tops and lace blouses.Such self-possessed sexiness is possible due to the level of detail Anderson puts into each piece. Doubling down on embellishment and loading up each look with a wealth of textural techniques elevates even the simplest garment. Thanks to ribbon woven into its tweed, a navy-and-white-striped blazer avoided all seersucker associations.
Likewise, what could have been a standard maxi coat was elevated with the addition of fringed edges along its hem.All the details were beautiful, but the best display of Anderson’s meticulousness might be in the lining of each garment. A fan of structure, he sought to maintain a tailored look throughout while acknowledging the current obsession with ease. Anderson’s outlook has seen his brand expand globally in the past year, but his affinity for constant change and democratized style feels distinctly American. “You have to make clothes that are relevant for the way women live now,” he says. “We’re not going back to structure [but] you don’t throw away the past; you take those techniques and the lessons you’ve learned, then move forward.”
11 December 2021
Oooh, well, I haven’t done this in a while: Uptown for a show, one with a celebratory atmosphere to boot, the gals in the audience, fans and friends of the designer, flocking together and turning it out almost as much as the models on the runway. Such was the scene at Frederick Anderson’s show at Park and 63rd on a rainy (but, oy, steamy) Thursday morning. It is an archetypal New York Fashion Week moment. Or it was, back when I moved here in 2000, before the energy and the focus shifted way downtown, and then beyond, onto Brooklyn and Queens.The diversification of visions and voices has been a terrific and welcome change for NYC fashion, but let’s not forget those designers who are giving a youthful and thoughtful twist to what was called, back in the day, ‘uptown clothes.’ We do need to be hearing, and acknowledging, everyone who makes up the particular patchwork of New York’s fashion scene. And, in reality, we can, in the case of Anderson, dispense with the uptown. What we have from him are pieces which mirror and enhance the lives of the women who actually buy and wear his designs. His look is borne out of creative interpretation of their needs and necessities, which he then shakes up into a cocktail laced with a bit of his own humor, fantasy—and a sly wink.In dressing women for next spring, Anderson was, he says, thinking of their physicality. The body was much to the fore. You couldn’t miss it. It was glimpsed through softly draped and tied evening sarongs and halter dresses in chocolate lace; Anderson has a thing for the filigree stuff, juxtaposing, for instance, different types in contrasting colors—red, pink, bottle green—into one long refreshing drink of an evening dress, which sinuously worked its way to the ankles.Elsewhere he went streamlined with his silhouette, cutting his new message of comfortable, relaxed luminescence, using sequins for the likes of hip-grazing track pants. And form and fashion met with his now trademark artisanal knits, in ecru or cream or beige, which had an easy, boho charm. “They’re not perfect, and they’re not intended to be,” Anderson said. “They have a hand to them.” Or, in this case, hands: They’re created by Argentine collectives, where the local communities making them are bolstered financially by the work he gives them, a collaborative exercise in how to sustain others through one’s own work.
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter where you reside on the map of New York fashion; that sense of being connected to the bigger world, and being sensitive to it, is what unites so many designing in the city these days. And from Anderson, that wasn’t the only optimistic gesture. Chatting to him, he mentioned this collection had become a very personal journey out of COVID. Working on it was an act, he says, “of coming into the light, and finding a balance. It’s been like a weight off the shoulders.” Amen to that.
9 September 2021