A Fashionable Conversation With Frederick Anderson
Recently we had the pleasure of having a conversation with fashion designer Frederick Anderson. Throughout the whole interview, he was friendly and open, and I could see the same fun-loving attitude in his personality that he presents in his designs.
Anderson explained that he feels like he is inspired by everything he sees when walking around, and believes that fashion is a vital vehicle of personal expression. “Clothing is a vocabulary, and everyone sees it as just putting something on, but I'm like no, you're making a statement every time you put something on,” Anderson said. He laughed as he explained that he sometimes goes into what he calls his “rabbit hole” being immersed in his work. One of the most fascinating aspects of Anderson’s designs is his use of texture in his work, as he loves fabrics, many of which he gets from Europe, and he works with a couple of mills, where he encourages mixtures of fabrications and avant-garde styles. “It doesn't look like anyone else because I'm the only one using it, which is what I like, you know, and I do the same thing the way that I put the laces together,” Anderson said.
As much as he cares about style, Anderson also values sustainability. “All the hand knits are done down in Argentina, so it's really kind of amazing because all the money I spend on having them done goes straight back to the technicians and the people who are doing the work,” Anderson said. He seems to genuinely enjoy working with people and his involvement in the design process. “I always research all these cool new stitches and stuff and my crochets, and I'll send them little screenshots of it. ‘Hey, I saw this cool stitch, can you do this,’ they're like, ‘yeah cool we'll add that’ and it becomes unique. I enjoy that process of putting all these little things together,” Anderson said. He laughed as he explained that in his “crazy head” he does not always see things in a linear way, and instead, he sees more of a curved process. The process seems to be working well for him, as his clothing always looks so stylish and unique.
Between the intricate patterns, bold textures, and comfortable fits, Frederick Anderson’s designs gives off the carefree, bohemian vibe with a lot of bold attitude and sleek sex appeal. “I deconstruct everything. So inside the garments, I've taken out all the linings and stuff, and I pipe them and clean them in a new way. If I have a fabric that's leftover from one season, I'll stick it in the closet [and] try to bring it back in another season,” Anderson stated. He explained that he believes fashion is moving away from conformity and overly fitted clothing and more toward women expressing themselves by wearing what makes them feel comfortable and good in their own skin. The target market for Anderson’s products is usually women who are in their late 20s to early 40s. He was honest in explaining that while his clothing is not overly expensive, it is not cheap, so women in their thirties who have the money to afford the clothing are usually most likely to purchase his products. However, he does not only design for a specific target market; he designs whatever vision feels right.
Anderson explained that he is not in a major growth stage at the moment, and that the current focused is getting his clothing back out into customers hands after the pandemic. “No major investments until after the end of the year. We need to see this through fully before we start moving into a real growth stage. Right now, it's just meeting with stores, and getting the collection back out to retail is the purpose right now, because as you know, everyone imploded last year, so no one was really bringing forward new merchandise... it's really about getting the product out to the consumer so that she can find it, that's what I'm concentrating on now until the end of the year.” While he will probably go back to more of an office setting at some point, he has been enjoying the freedom and casualness of a more remote work environment. With New York Fashion Week coming up, Anderson said that he plans on having a show, with an estimated 200-250 person audience, as he loves gathering people together for the show of fashion. “I like movement. Clothing is nothing until someone puts it on,” Anderson said. He is experiencing a little bit of a delay in his preparation for the show, but he is still looking forward to it. “The fabric is starting to come in now so, unfortunately, since I do everything in Europe and Europe has been really hit bad with COVID, it's a little behind, so a little bit shorter period than I usually have. I usually have 10 to 12 weeks, I’ll have eight weeks, but it'll be fine. I'll get it done. I'm excited to get people back in my world as opposed to me just doing stuff with images,” Anderson said.
As far as upcoming releases, Anderson has a multitude of unique ideas and does not plan on holding back on any of his creative individuality, especially after COVID. “So now we survived it, let's be the best we can be for ourselves. I am finding more and more ways to be more individual,” Anderson said. “For spring, I've been talking about melanin, the color of skin because I always talk about people and the essence of who people are and that skin is only so deep, and melanin is the only thing that separates us... I'm kind of into that for spring and just this joyous kind of fun celebration of clothing moving and then different color tones that look like they came off the skin colors.” Anderson also brought up the concept of fashion inspired by robes: “I've been thinking of this idea of robes because of the idea of taking something that is very familiar to you at home and moving it forward and taking it outside,” Anderson said. We are excited to see whatever he comes up with next, as we know it will be fun, free-spirited, and unique, just like his personality.
By Zoe Nolz