Jonathan Anderson and Luca Guadagnino’s creative
partnership puts costume design front and center
By Rachel Marlowe
Artwork by Meegan Barnes
When Jonathan Anderson, former creative director of Loewe and founder of JW Anderson, and filmmaker Luca Guadagnino first met over coffee in Milan, the connection was instant and marked the beginning of a game-changing creative partnership. “It was one of those meetings where I felt like I had known Luca all my life,” Anderson recalled. “We were meant to just have a coffee, but then we chatted all afternoon.”
In 2021, the friendship evolved into collaboration in the form of a short film for the Spanish luxury fashion house. Then came the pandemic and Guadagnino lobbed an unexpected opportunity Anderson’s way. “Luca approached me and said, ‘Would you be up to doing costumes in a film?’ And I think because of the pandemic, I was worried I wasn’t going to have a job. No one was buying luxury goods at that point, so I was like, ‘Sure, why not?’” Anderson said.
Challengers, the romantic sports drama that explores the dynamics of a love triangle among three tennis players, marked both Anderson’s debut as a costume designer and his first Costume Designers Guild Award nomination.
Guadagnino, for one, wasn’t surprised by Anderson’s seamless transition to film. “Jonathan comes with a ferocious intelligence—someone who knows the way in which we communicate through clothes,” he said. “He’s a great artist and a great intellectual. We have in-depth conversations about form. We’re inspired by the same thing: the world we want to bring to life.”
Every fitting for the film was collaborative, with Anderson and Guadagnino using wardrobe to help shape the characters played by Zendaya (Tashi), Josh O’Connor (Patrick) and Mike Faist (Art). They debated details such as which shoes Tashi would wear to watch a tennis match (Chanel espadrilles) or how short Patrick’s shorts should be (very).
“Costume design is a kind of theater, much like fashion, but it demands tapping into a character,” Anderson explained. “In Challengers, the pace is intense, and the characters are, too. While watching the film, I think the audience feels like they are like a tennis ball going back and forth, tossed around this fascinating, exciting dynamic. The clothes become an instrument of that.”
Jonathan comes with a ferocious intelligence—someone who knows the way in which we communicate through clothes.”
Luca Guadagnino
“Fashion and film are deeply connected,” Guadagnino echoed. “Every element—from costumes to makeup—builds the story and the character. Clothes are a way to create something the audience can connect with and decipher.” But Guadagnino is adamant that design must never overshadow the narrative. “I think it’s a cardinal sin to put the design before the film. That’s why I am in awe of Jonathan’s capacity to immerse himself in the story and the characters.”
The duo reunited last year for an adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ Queer, which presented a challenge of a different sort. “I wanted to have a creative journey that was different to Challengers, which was rooted in a period I grew up in,” said Anderson. “I wanted something where I was going to learn through the process about that period.” To that end, he embarked on what any costume designer knows is a nearly impossible feat: sourcing entirely vintage pieces from the 1950s, including underwear and socks.
“With Queer, I was coming to understand the dynamics of the whole thing: working on set, how to dress crowds, making sure there’s not only one color in a crowd, everyone dressing in the same color. You start to learn what you want to creatively achieve in something,” said Anderson. “Luca has this amazing capability of making you realize you have not hit a glass ceiling.”
In December, it was announced that Anderson signed with United Talent Agency, signaling more cinematic projects on the horizon. “Now that I have more of an understanding of filmmaking and an understanding of costume within film, I would like to continue doing it,” he said. But that doesn’t mean he’s stepping away from his design career. “I think it’s really important for me to keep my day job because it sharpens my skills outside of it,” he explains. “Plus, I think the two can complement each other.”
Luca has this amazing capability of making you realize you have not hit a glass ceiling.”
Jonathan Anderson
This synergy between his work and creative projects is evident in his latest endeavor. Building on the now-iconic Challengers “I Told Ya” tee—recreated and sold by Loewe—he has designed a JW Anderson x Queer collection featuring graphic tees, sweatshirts, hoodies and accessories adorned with Guadagnino’s distinctive handwritten movie graphics and imagery from the film.
Guadagnino, meanwhile, has just wrapped shooting After the Hunt, a psychological thriller starring Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield, and is about to embark on a new interpretation of Bret Easton Ellis’ cult novel American Psycho. And while no official third collaboration between the pair has been announced as yet, Anderson says, “I’m sure that me and Luca will find something else to do. I adore working with Luca and I feel like I would have so much FOMO if I didn’t.”
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