Yoox Marks 20 Years of Fashion Etail With a Capsule Collection by JW Anderson

Consuming clothes with a click is something we now take for granted, but fashion etail was in its infancy when Yoox launched on June 20, 2000. Now the brand is celebrating two decades in business with JW Anderson x Yoox, an exclusive capsule of coordinated, gender-fluid separates that will be available online this Thursday. With this collection—one of more than 300 collaborations orchestrated by Yoox since 2004—the Italian company reaffirms what president Paolo Mascio calls its commitment to “timeless and trendless fashion, and, above all, freedom of expression.”

Anderson, who established his own label in 2008, has been part of the Yoox family since 2011. For this project he revisited his archive, selecting “straightforward” pieces (a hoodie, a trench, a pleated skirt, trousers) that “can be layered in different ways and seen from different viewpoints.” Anderson said he was drawn to tactile garments, ones that the wearer will touch, and think, This is going to make me feel good; it’s going to help me express myself.

One of the feel-good fabrics Anderson used in the Yoox capsule is corduroy. “I like that it’s cozy. I like that you can wear it in so many different ways,” he said, adding that he looks back fondly on the bias-cut 1920s silhouettes in the material that he made for fall 2014. For many, quarantine has been a time of reevaluation and reminiscence. Asked about the role of nostalgia in fashion, Anderson replied, “I think it’s very important right now. We cannot change the past, but we can use [it] to inform us and to get foresight. I think [nostalgia] makes us root ourselves in the reality that we are in.” This period of pause, he continued, has given us time to “look back on certain things and actually relish the time to learn from them.” Though he’s optimistic for what’s to come, Anderson has no interest in crystal-balling the future; he’d much rather use the opportunity to “experience fashion in real time,” thank you very much.