JONATHAN ANDERSON & RUSSELL TOVEY
LIVING ART
—Londoners Jonathan Anderson and Russell Tovey are great friends and even greater fans of contemporary art. For this “Conversation” issue, therefore, it went without saying that they should have free rein to converse about their shared passion.
Anderson, 36, spent his formative years between Northern Ireland and Ibiza — a real contrast in colours and inspirations for his unique sensibilities. After cutting his teeth with Prada as a visual merchandiser, alongside Miuccia Prada’s faithful lieutenant Manuela Pavesi, he struck out on his own in 2008. His first JW Anderson menswear collection was an instant success. Things moved to the next level for him in 2013 when LVMH took a minority share in his JW Anderson brand and gave him control of Spanish luxury fashion house Loewe. He has continued to impress in both menswear and women’s fashion, and often the two at once — he is happy to define his fashion as “androgynous”. In the ever–changing world of fashion, one of the constants in his life is his love of art. His collection has gained such a reputation that, in 2019, he was appointed as one of the curators of the Victoria and Albert Museum by the then Prime Minister Theresa May.
Russell Tovey, 39, shot to fame at a much earlier stage, beginning as a child actor at the age of 13 in the British TV series . His big break came with the play by Alan Bennett, which he performed on stage, on the radio and ultimately on the big screen in 2007. His career really took off at this juncture in the UK, as he alternated between theatre, TV and cinema. His fame went global in 2015 with the HBO series , which deals with the daily lives of a group of gay men in San Francisco. More was to follow in 2019 with the hotly–anticipated Russell T. Davies series , starring Emma Thompson. Tovey proved that you could have a successful career as an actor while making no attempt to hide your homosexuality — something that was unimaginable until recently. He is equally up front about his love of contemporary art, having been a collector for over 10 years. Withwhich has now evolved into book form. He has even been named as curator of the Margate contemporary art festival , and it was in that very seaside town that Tovey posed for a Loewe campaign set up by Anderson two years ago. Since then, the two have found that they have plenty in common to talk about…
