Archive posters from Michael Clark Company performances – a giant phallus and a glistering two finger salute – decorated Camden’s Roundhouse, the venue for the JW Anderson FW23 show.

Inside the building (where many of Clark’s performances have been held), these posters became large blocks in the centre of the round auditorium (including one that read ‘Enjoy God’s Disco’ in Coca-Cola imagery) as Jonathan Anderson set out a performance in ode to the legendary Scottish dancer and choreographer.

Clark worked on paradoxes and contradictions, finding space between order and chaos, discipline and anarchy; a rule breaker who distorted classical notions of dance towards the present – blending poetry and punk. (Evidence: Clark’s I Am Curious, Orange premiere in 1988 was soundtracked by a wild, live performance from Mark E. Smith’s The Fall – a band without limits). That previous statement can also be written about Jonathan Anderson, whose subversions of reality realise worlds of joy and craft. For FW23, the British designer got to tick off a bucket list wish: collaborating with his “hero” Michael Clark.

Staged in the round with a bagpiper opening the show, Anderson merged his 15-year archive with Clark’s, choosing an element from each JW Anderson collection and adding some Michael Clark magic: an ultimate mash-up for those who know. “Michael Clark is an incipit. A starter, a white page, the agitator who defied the system…” said Anderson in the show notes. “He is embedded deep, somewhere, in the foundation of JW Anderson and impels now the urgency of a blank slate.”

Michael Clark flyers were transposed onto t-shirts, treated to look like distressed posters, and trouser hems were raw, possibly gnawed. Fluid silhouettes shifted like the avant-garde body shapes of performers in Clark’s shows as trousers jutted out from the waist, creating a triangle silhouette, and fabric wrapped around arms. Paw mules prowled, and signatures from past seasons were revisited, including the oversized collar opera coat, draped dresses and sculptural outerwear.

Counterculture phrases were sprinkled throughout, including the Leigh Bowery slogan, ‘Y Male’, fluffy faux-fur tops were designed with hand-warmers in the front and exaggerated, round knitted cuffs appeared like inflatable sci-fi fun. One look recreated a yellow smiley face t-shirt Clark famously flipped upside down and wore as dungarees with braces holding it up. Pop culture references including an old-school blue-and-white Tesco carrier bag reworked into a tunic spoke of Clark’s ability to collage, embracing everything from music to art, film, and even football.

“At its core, this is a collection about fandom,” said Anderson, “completely personal, frequently irrational, often embarrassing. As I look back through my own archive for this show, resurrecting elements from each collection of the last 15 years, Michael helped me rifle through this. It helped me pinpoint my own obsessions.”