The power of fashion and social media can be unpredictable and surprising: while rehearsing for his performance on NBC's "The Today Show" in February Harry Styles wore a multicolored JW Anderson cardigan.
Inspired by children's toys and colour books and characterised by a relaxed silhouette and a DIY mood that celebrates all the imperfections of knitting, the cardigan maybe represented for many Harry Styles fans not just a way to emulate their idol, but also the chance to feel more optimistic thanks to its bright and bold colours.
Soon the design became an obsession on social media, in particular on TikTok with users embracing Harry Styles' JW Anderson cardigan challenge (with the hashtag #HarryStylesCardigan) and trying to recreate the rainbow-coloured knitted sweater or enlisting mothers, aunts and grandmothers to do it (and those who didn't manage to do so in real life made a digital version in the Nintendo Switch videogame "Animal Crossing: New Horizons").Impressed and humbled by this trend, J.W. Anderson commented on his Instagram page "it's so amazing the power of craft" and showed his appreciation by sharing the cardigan pattern (Download JWAnderson-Colourblock-Patchwork-Cardigan) and posting a tutorial video on YouTube that explains the various stitches.
Up until a few decades ago it wasn't rare to find a pattern by a famous designer given for free with a magazine (a practice relaunched in the digital format by SHOWstudio's Design Download in 2002 an initiative that invites people to discover the technicalities of fashion), while some fashion houses also sold official patterns for practically functional designs.
So let's hope that, while JW Anderson's design has sparked one of the most popular trends on TikTok so far this year, the trend will not be temporary but it will also encourage further fashion houses to release original patterns for free every now and then.
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