Former Irish rugby captain and the father of one of the most famous fashion designers in the world, JW Anderson, has said his son “hasn’t changed an iota” since his rise to fame and admitted “going easy” when shaking hands with Anna Wintour at a recent fashion show.
Dressing the likes of Dan Levy, Rhianna and recently Sabrina Carpenter at the Grammy’s, Jonathan has come a long way from staging plays in his Co Derry home for his friends.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Willie Anderson said that his son was always determined to do well and revealed he’d re-mortgaged their home to help him on his journey to stardom.
“We always had faith in him that he would do it,” he said.
“He started his brand the year after graduating from the London School of Fashion. We re-mortgaged the house and helped him out because we knew that he would make it. He was so determined.”
He added that it wasn’t a surprise to the family when he came out as gay when he was a teenager.
“I’ve had a lot of people asking me, ‘How did you cope with that, you being this big rugby man and blah, blah?’ And of course it didn’t matter to us in the slightest. We could tell it was a big deal for Jonathan when he came out to us, at the age of 17 or 18,” he said. “But we said, ‘Jonny, it doesn’t matter. We love you the same as we love your brother (Thomas) and sister (Chloe).’ Besides, it wasn’t a surprise to us.”
Anderson said that his son always had a creative side from a young age.
“As soon as he was able, he was doing something creative,” Willie said.
“He was forever doing sketches of figures and of clothes, and then he choreographed plays and shows that he’d have staged here in the house, at 13 or 14. His friends would play the various parts and he’d design the costumes and arrange them behind that curtain before the show. The kids’ parents would be the audience, all rolled out for the evening. They still talk about it.
JW Anderson
“You could see there was a businessman in him, too. He would go away on a Saturday on his bike with a rucksack and go round some of the farmers in the area to clean eggs and he’d come back with a hen or a rooster that they had given him. So we had eggs and we had birds, chinchillas, dogs — we had it all. He was building little ponds, growing plants in a greenhouse and selling them. Heather would come home and see a sign at the gate: ‘plants for sale’.”
Despite a business-like mind and creative flair, Jonathan has been open about his struggles with dyslexia growing up.
“He had a fair chip on his shoulder because of his dyslexia, which was horrendous,” his father said.
“My daughter was the same. Their motivation was to learn how to learn and that was the biggest factor. When Jonathan finally got into the London School of Fashion, he was assessed for his dyslexia and their response was: how did you make it this far? And he ended up getting a 2:1.
“We’d like to think he got some of his resilience from his mum and me. Both of us are very driven, determined people. I had various setbacks in the coaching world, which can be cut-throat, but I always bounced back, never lost my passion for it, and Jonathan had to deal with setbacks, too.
“It’s amazing to think a cub from around here has done so well for himself. And the great thing about our three kids is they still ring us and ask advice.”
Willie Anderson
The rugby legend added that he’s a fan of his son’s work but wishes the sizing could be more accommodating.
“Jonny gave me a lovely coat there recently, but they don’t tend to do much stuff in XXL,” he said.
“We get invited to various shows. At the [London] fashion awards I went up to Anna Wintour, even though Jonathan had warned me: don’t go near her! But I knew she was an admirer of his and I wanted to introduce myself. At least I went easy on the handshake.”
Earlier this month, the Magherafelt-born designer had his pigeon clutch bag displayed in the Louvre in Paris.
He first unveiled the accessory in 2022, retailing for around £715, in addition to a range of other animal clutch-bags including a hedgehog and frog.
Writing on Instagram, the 40-year-old said: “The Pigeon Clutch exhibited at the Louvre Museum as part of ‘LOUVRE COUTURE Art and fashion: statement pieces’.”
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