JW Anderson RTW Spring 2023

In arcade lingo, Jonathan Anderson's JW Anderson spring collection has hit the jackpot, can - to be the most powerful distillation of her perspective on fashion yet - and a joy to behold.

The designer has been asking himself these questions lately: "Are we falling into the screen? Are we becoming our phones? – and explore the impact of the Metaverse, the latest meteor rushing into planetary fashion. He succeeded with his sensational and slightly ominous spring men's collection for Loewe, where his models wore clothes and shoes that grew living plants, but had their faces obscured by those proverbial "black mirrors".

He took a more playful approach on Saturday night, but his show was no less thought-provoking as mannequins meandered through a maze of flashing video game machines. Like Emily Ratajkowski, her famous Sports Illustrated swimsuit curves obscured by boyish pants and a baggy t-shirt, from which two plastic fins protruded: she had sunk so deep into her surfer game that she became a surfboard.

Tropical beach scenes printed on neoprene rompers were screensavers scavenged from the internet, while the JWA logo was chosen from large 3D computer keyboard buttons stuck to crumpled T-shirt dresses.

“So many ideas,” enthused Michael Burke, Chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton after the show, explaining his presence by gesturing with his thumb and saying, "I live around the corner".

Anderson was in bubbly mood during his post-show scrimmage, thrilled to be from back to London with her first live women's show since 2020, and back to one of her college haunts, the Las Vegas Arcade Soho, next to her flagship London boutique JW Anderson.

"I'm in a moment of reduction", he said to explain the preponderance of one-piece and two-piece outfits, and his desire to telegraph "individualism" and "reality". So the dresses became a simple bubble of chintz, a short strip of shower curtain tied over one shoulder, or two lengths of perforated jersey ingeniously tied to become surprisingly sexy dresses.

The mohair sweaters hanging from metal hangers around the neck were bonkers; satin dresses trimmed with lace - gorgeous. The whole show was bursting with originality thanks to Anderson's creative blend of wit, humor and fashion fireworks.

His tribute to Queen Elizabeth II was as succinct and assured as the collection: A black T-shirt written with the years of his long and incredible life and the words "Thank you".