Earlier this year, Harry Styles was spotted wearing colourful, patchwork cardigan during a rehearsal for The Today Show, which was accessorised with a pearl necklace.
Shortly after his appearance on the show, the cardigan challenge started trending on TikTok known as #HarryStylesCardigan. A challenge where his fans attempted to crochet their own approximations of the JW Anderson design and it became so huge that Anderson shared a YouTube tutorial and a downloadable pattern to help them.
“I am so impressed and incredibly humbled by this trend and everyone knitting the cardigan,” the designer wrote at the time. “I really wanted to show our appreciation so we are sharing the pattern with everyone. Keep it up!”
After all this, the cardigan has reached a new level of fame. London’s Victoria & Albert museum has requested the OG cardigan from JW Anderson’s Spring/Summer 20 collection to immortalise as part of its permanent collection.
The team at the V&A believes the knit is emblematic of society’s adoption of more eco-friendly and conscious practices as well as an example of the nation’s creativity during lockdown. In a statement, the V& A said: “The secret is out! We can now confirm that the JW Anderson patchwork knit cardigan worn by recording artist Harry Styles is joining the V&A’s fashion collection. Donating the cardigan to the V&A feels like the right next step to acknowledge everyone’s incredible creativity and craft especially during such a challenging time in history”.
