Jonathan William Anderson’s breakout moment came in February 2011, in London, when he showed a mod paisley silk pajama suit, topped with a white rubber clerical collar, as the centerpiece of his Fall 2011 women’s collection. Then just 26, the Northern Irish lad was a mere sapling, and yet he managed to amaze seasoned fashion editors with his uncanny prescience: Paisley, it turned out, would crop up seemingly everywhere that season, in the collections of such houses as Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, Etro, and the mighty Balenciaga.

The swirly teardrop print is believed to have originated in Persia—and subsequently made its way to Victorian ladies’ shawls and, eventually, the psychedelic caftans and Nehru jackets of the Swinging ’60s—but it derives its name from the town of Paisley in Scotland’s west central Lowlands. So perhaps it was not so surprising that it would become a recurring motif among the perversely tweaked British heritage icons that are Anderson’s stock-in-trade.

Other elements of Anglo nostalgia that Anderson has reworked for his J.W.Anderson label include Aran knits, tartans, hunting tweeds, and houndstooth checks. In the time-honored tradition of Vivienne Westwood and other punk-design pioneers, he dissects and reassembles these classic materials in startling ways. For Spring 2012, he grafted men’s striped cotton shirting onto a leather biker jacket, and sutured the mishmash together with leather whipstitching. What sets Anderson’s ensembles apart is their quirky collage quality: His clothes have “just enough of a fillip of oddness to make them desirable,” Vogue.com wrote.

Just as he hopscotches between the traditional and the avant-garde, Anderson—who started out designing menswear in 2008 and soon expanded into womenswear—likes to muddy the line between masculine and feminine, crafting tomboyish looks that work on both sexes. His playful ensembles have won him a rapturous following among young trendsetters such as Alexa Chung, as well as prestigious collaboration deals with such youth-oriented labels as Topshop and Versus Versace.

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JW Anderson