Galimberti explains that when she joined six years ago, JW Anderson was a very different company — operating completely wholesale, showing at fashion weeks seasonally, and with just one store on Shoreditch High Street. Now, the brand is pivoting to a DTC model. After successful launches in Milan and London’s Soho over the last two months, and with Pimlico in the works, the plan for next year includes stores in Paris and New York.
She says the brand now sells through roughly a third of the wholesale accounts it used to. “We’ve kept our closer partners and we will keep working with them, but we’re trying to move things toward a ‘store-within-a-store’ concept because we need this type of environment,” she says. “You can’t just have a rack with clothes in fashion and a mug in homeware. It doesn’t make sense. It all has to sit in the same world, this curated JWA cabinet of curiosities.”
Galimberti goes on to describe how creative meetings have changed (or remained the same) since the rebrand. “Much like before, Jonathan will have a first meeting with the creative teams and discuss his ideas and set a direction for the season,” she says. “Sometimes, he will show them things he found and ask for people’s opinions. The teams include the fashion teams, but now also what we call home and garden. They source and develop products, like the Murano glassware or the Nicholas Mosse ceramics.”
Some items in stores might stay beyond a season, another new approach that differs from the wholesale model. “They belong to us, and will stay in the store depending on how well we think the product is doing. The response to it, or if we just feel that it’s a very representative piece,” explains Galimberti.
Besides fashion and homeware, Anderson, Galimberti and co are hoping to develop their art pillar. The teams are currently working with curator Andrew Bonacina on developing a program where they will be showcasing art and selling it. The plan is to include some pieces in the January showrooms, and repeat this every six months. Another category they are trying their hand at is jewelry, approached in two ways: there’s antique jewelry on offer that’s been sourced, but also an in-house team developing high jewelry pieces.