The JW Anderson Pre-Fall 2021 collection is refreshing blast of playfulness seen in the souvenir series of ephemera.

“I felt it was better to start the year with something lighter and less calculated,” said the designer. “At the beginning of 2021 I wanted something that’s reality. A reality check.”

The collection featured cute crocheted radishes on a sweater, or embroidered on a hoodie;great big prints of gourds and a random peach—yet also inspired by Anderson’s interest in 17th century Dutch still lifes, and the work of the British painter William Nicholson.

There was extreme trousering including the upended isosceles triangular trouser legs, inspired by Surrealist costume as well as a bump into the checkerboard patterns that the extraordinary gender non-conforming anti-fascist Surrealist Claude Cahoun photographed herself wearing. This style is a JW Anderson experiment in shape—and a 2021 riposte.