The countdown to The Crown season four is on, and amping up excitement for the latest instalment of the Netflix royal drama is Jonathan Anderson. The Northern Irish designer has become acquainted with two of the show’s brightest stars: British Vogue cover star Emma Corrin, who will make her screen debut as Diana, Princess of Wales on 15 November, and Josh O’Connor, who plays Prince Charles.
Corrin has been a poster girl for Anderson’s eponymous brand for some time. She loafed through the summer in London JW Anderson’s chain-embellished mules, and helped Anderson celebrate London Fashion Week in a COVID-friendly video format. While browsing the rails in the brand’s Soho flagship, an excited Corrin reminded us of the joy to be found in dressing up before Zoom became our social reality. It was a sweet moment that felt organic for a designer who doesn’t push celebrity endorsement, but who naturally finds his work on the world’s stage (see also Harry Styles’s viral JW Anderson cardigan).

While Corrin has been putting her youthful spin on Anderson’s fancy flats—with heart-dappled socks, no less—her co-star O’Connor has been a brand ambassador for Loewe–the Spanish brand of which Anderson is also creative director—for some time. The British actor, who most recently played Mr Elton in Autumn de Wilde’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, appeared in Loewe’s autumn/winter 2018 classics line, its spring/summer 2019 ready-to-wear campaign and spring/summer 2020 photo series showcasing the label’s technical menswear.
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For an appearance on The Graham Norton Show ahead of The Crown release date, O’Connor wore one of the brand’s current season cable knit sweaters made from recycled wool. “Thank you as ever to my friends,” he captioned a shout-out to Anderson and Loewe on his Instagram, which is populated with craft pieces and artworks not too dissimilar to the designer’s own social feed.

As we prepare to watch the courtship, engagement and marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana unfold on our screens, Anderson has already aligned himself with the programme’s figureheads. For Loewe, an 1846-founded artisan label, and JW Anderson, an experimental new-age craft brand, this link to the modern-day historical drama makes perfect sense. Clever indeed.
This article was originally published on British Vogue.