{"id":106651,"date":"2025-10-29T07:19:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T07:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/106651\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T07:19:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T07:19:15","slug":"why-jw-andersons-ad-starring-mel-c-from-the-spice-girls-brought-me-so-much-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/106651\/","title":{"rendered":"Why JW Anderson’s Ad Starring Mel C from the Spice Girls Brought Me So Much Joy"},"content":{"rendered":"

My group chat was on fire this morning. \u201cMel C in the JW Anderson campaign?? What? lol.\u201d \u201cShe looks amazing!\u201d \u201cI am obsessed.\u201d <\/p>\n

Indeed, it was a bit of a shock to see British singer-songwriter Melanie Chisholm, aka Mel C, aka Sporty Spice from the Spice Girls, as the face of designer Jonathan Anderson\u2019s recently relaunched namesake brand, especially the way she was styled. Photographed by Heikki Kaski and styled by Benjamin Bruno, Chisholm wears pieces like an oversized chocolate wrap coat, tartan trousers with a balloon hem, and a long white button-down knotted at the sides. Her hair is down and her face looks bare of makeup. <\/p>\n

\"jw<\/p>\n

Heikki Kaski<\/p>\n

As Sporty Spice, Chisholm exclusively wore track pants and sports bras, sometimes tank tops, and usually a pair of running sneakers. She was the tomboy of the group, with a slicked-back ponytail and a nose ring\u2014the chilled-out opposite of her bandmates in their babydoll dresses, platform boots, skimpy LBDs, and animal prints. Anderson\u2019s vision of Chisholm is similarly tomboyish but all grown up. She looks like the sophisticated, cool, successful artist that she is. Certainly, she can still rock a kit, only this time she\u2019ll do it carrying a suede tote and wearing a pair of embellished Chelsea boots. <\/p>\n

\"jw<\/p>\n

Heikki Kaski<\/p>\n

JW Anderson has always been known for its eccentric, experimental fashion, but in recent months Anderson, who is now the creative director of Dior, had shifted its direction to include other lifestyle categories. The new JW Anderson collection features striped knits, graphic rugby shirts, loafer-style bags, and silk slippers, as well as custom wooden chairs and a 19th-century silver wine tag in the shape of a bat. A $2,000 watering can and a $40 bag of artisan tea are also for sale. <\/p>\n

Why did Anderson choose Chisholm to hawk these kooky wares? Because he can. And because, in some weird way, it makes total sense. Whether at his own label or Loewe, Anderson has never played by the rules when it comes to celebrity endorsements and influencer marketing. He has always chosen surprising faces, like Dame Maggie Smith, Luca Guadagnino, and John Malkovich, the latter of whom also stars in this season\u2019s new JW ads. There\u2019s usually a touch of nostalgia to what Anderson does, but he never gives us the kind of on-the-nose throwback moments the fashion industry has been banking on for years. Instead, he gravitates towards moments that are more considered, more eyebrow-raising, more fun.<\/p>\n

Beyond JW x Mel C, there seems to be something in the air when it comes to fashion and \u201890s music nostalgia. At the collection in Paris, soundtracks were filled with familiar yet hyper-specific tunes from the era, like Aaliyah\u2019s \u201cRock the Boat\u201d at Schiaparelli and SNAP!\u2019s \u201cRhythm is a Dancer\u201d at Chanel. If you listened closely during Matthieu Blazy\u2019s debut, you could also catch a sample of the bridge to Paula Cole\u2019s \u201cI Don\u2019t Want to Wait,\u201d best known as the theme song from Dawson\u2019s Creek. Last week, Dries Van Noten announced that it would be dressing Alanis Morissette for her residency in Las Vegas, too.<\/p>\n

\"jw<\/p>\n

Heikki Kaski<\/p>\n

Perhaps these \u201890s music moments feel more compelling because we\u2019re bored with archival Y2K fashion. Or maybe they\u2019re more appealing because they\u2019re not so literal: they don\u2019t involve a reissued piece of clothing, a megastar who\u2019s closely associated with the era, or a fashion it item. True, Anderson\u2019s likely end goal is to make noise on the Internet, but his choice of Mel C\u2014and his choice not to dress her like her \u201890s avatar\u2014feels smart and unexpected. If there was ever a time to spice up our lives with a fresh take on a throwback, it\u2019s now, amidst what the industry is referring to as \u201cthe great fashion reset.\u201d Thankfully, Anderson keeps on delivering hits. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"My group chat was on fire this morning. \u201cMel C in the JW Anderson campaign?? What? lol.\u201d \u201cShe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106652,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[2115,76847,2117,156,2462,157,111,139,69,76846],"class_list":["post-106651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-5463cf91-e7ba-40d5-b724-85d6293a033b","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-locale-us","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-shorttitle-why-i-love-mel-cs-jw-anderson-campaign"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}