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Jonathan Anderson Takes a Gamble on London’s Pimlico Road With New Homeware Flagship

Jonathan Anderson Takes a Gamble on London’s Pimlico Road With New Homeware Flagship

LONDON — The JW Anderson universe is expanding with the opening of the brand’s first store dedicated to homeware and to designer Jonathan Anderson’s personal passions, which range from 19th-century French watering cans with sensual curves to metal candle sconces delicate as bridal veils, and candy-colored clothing brushes made by Hillbrush, an official supplier to King Charles III.

They’ve all sprung from the head — and heart — of Anderson, who has shifted the focus of his signature label from fashion to lifestyle and let his passion for art, design and functional objects rip. Earlier this year, following his appointment as creative director of Christian Dior, Anderson unveiled the new concept, a seasonless offer with a focus on craft, heritage and collaboration with artisans and suppliers.

In an interview in September, Anderson said the focus is now on one-off objects, limited-edition pieces and a “slow-moving feast” of creativity and ideas. “It’s all my obsessions” in one place, he said, adding that “if we sell something, I want it to be beautifully executed by the right craftsman, by the right person.”

Inside the new JW Anderson flagship on London’s Pimlico Road.

He’s already transformed the JW Anderson stores in Soho, London, and Milan into homeware spaces laced with a few pieces of high-end fashion. The new store, at 103-105 Pimlico Road, is the largest of the three, and brings his new approach into even sharper focus with an eclectic offer that includes Irish pottery, Murano glass pitchers and robust Welsh blankets.

The interiors concept was developed by architects Sanchez Benton, who also worked on the London and Milan flagships. The new space has the feel of an artist’s studio and spans more than 2,400 square feet over two floors. On the walls, there is a mix of the building’s original exposed brickwork, which has been painted white, and velvet panels hung with display shelves and pegs.

An entire room is dedicated to soft furnishings made in collaboration with Polly Lyster, founder of The Dyeworks, which specializes in hand-dyeing using plants and other organic materials. Lyster is also a whiz at transforming antique fabrics into cushions, lavender pillows, napkins and sketchbook covers, all of which are on offer at the store.

Inside the new JW Anderson flagship on London’s Pimlico Road.

Another room is dedicated to jewelry, with two Fabergé pieces, including a purple amethyst pendant, on offer alongside small still life paintings of colorful fruits by the late artist and frame-maker Robert Moore Kulicke. The walls also feature paintings by the Welsh artist Gwen John.

Many of the pieces are personal.

Tableware includes Nicholas Mosse pottery featuring the archived Pig Collection and a new Shamrock Mug Collection. When he was a child, Anderson remembers drinking out of a Mosse cup that was adorned with a little running pig, and appealed to the potter to revive the design.

He’s also impressed by Mosse’s craftsmanship. The tableware is made from clay that comes directly from Mosse’s land in County Kilkenny, Ireland, while the kilns are powered by an historic waterwheel on the property.

When Anderson isn’t drinking from a Mosse cup, he’s eating off dinner plates made by the Japanese artist and ceramicist Akiko Hirai, whose work has a rough-edged, organic feel, with pieces that look as if they’ve been found in an archeological dig.

Akiko Hirai jars on display at JW Anderson’s new Pimlico Road flagship.

Anderson’s passions extend outside of the store, where gigantic clay pots will soon be filled with rare daffodils hand-picked by the designer. There are also plans for a gardening-themed takeover during the Chelsea Flower Show, which takes place just a few minutes’ walk from the new store, on the grounds of Royal Hospital Chelsea.

Back inside, the walls are covered in art, and it’s all for sale, including the large painting by the London-based artist Mary Stephenson, which hangs on the wall above the staircase that leads to the lower ground level.

Downstairs, there’s a small selection of fashion and accessories, including overdyed denim trousers from Japan; JW Anderson’s signature loafer bags and ruffle-edged booties, and special collaboration pieces, including a Moncler puffer and a magnified argyle knit made by Pringle of Scotland.

The store is a gamble for Anderson, who has just broken into the high-end homeware business and who’s joining a lineup of interiors experts on Pimlico Road including Rose Uniacke, Linley, Soane Britain, Nina Campbell and Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler.

The soft furnishings room showcasing Polly Lyster’s vintage fabrics, and linens colored with natural dyes.

Pimlico Road is also home to art galleries and posh places to eat, including Daylesford, which has an organic farm shop and café with prices that rival Harrods and Fortnum & Mason. But Anderson loves the strip and managed to persuade the landowners, Grosvenor, to let him sell some fashion, a first in the history of the street for a designer who loves defying convention.  

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