‘I Felt Like a Student Again’: Jonathan Anderson on Designing Queer’s Sensual (and Sensational) Costumes

Jonathan Anderson: Yes, we’re in LA. We had the premiere last night, and today we’re doing press. So it’s just jet lag, and the usual running around like a headless chicken.

I don’t know how you find the time to do this project—and promo for it—alongside your two other jobs.

At the moment we’re a little quieter, and it’s not too many days here [in LA], so that’s good. We keep everything compacted, so that it gives people time in the studio to get everything processed, and I’m not always on their backs asking: What’s happening? When is it ready? [Laughs.]

To go back to the beginning, how did you first cross paths with Luca? It was at a hotel in Rome, right?

Yeah. We were actually introduced by Karla Otto. It was one of those meetings where I felt like I had known Luca all my life. We were meant to just have a coffee, but then we chatted all afternoon. I just feel like we are searching for the same things, but in different fields, so it’s really nice to be able to collaborate in this way, which requires a huge amount of trust in each other, but pushing each other too. And there are not many people, I think, who understand clothing as deeply as Luca does.

Were there any shared cultural touchstones or specific interests that you remember bonding over?

I think definitely art. We’re both obsessive collectors and like similar things. I think we have an addiction and an obsession with art, which we meet in the middle with our other projects. It’s quite nice to have someone else to bounce ideas about with, especially about something that is outside of both of our jobs, but filters back into the creative practice.

Where do those conversations tend to happen, where you’re just bouncing ideas around?

I was reading recently an article about how people usually have seven people they talk to every day or something, and for me, Luca is one of those people. I think I talk to Luca nearly every day. If I don’t, then I feel like I’ve missed something. It’s not just about film and it’s not just about fashion, either—it’s about a whole landscape of different things. If I need advice on something, I ask Luca, and there are not many people that you can find like that in life. Once you find them—especially if they’re in a creative field and share that understanding of what it means to be a creative person—then you want to keep them around.