JW Anderson has set foot in the United Arab Emirates for the first time via a pop-up shop inside the Dubai branch of Bloomingdale’s. The menswear pop-up showcases the Pol Anglada collection and will be open until 20 February.

“Stationed as if exhausted from an energetic rugby match, shirts askew and socks wrinkled, three mannequins sit inside a locker room”, in the store, the luxury label said.

The immersive installation takes in ready-to-wear, bags and accessories, featuring digitally-printed colour pencil illustrations of rugby players, drawn by artist Pol Anglada in a second collaboration with the brand. 

The store design features black-and-white tiled walls and pillars to “evoke the interior of a traditional British rugby club locker room and also complement Bloomingdale’s signature checkered colour palette”. 

“Mannequins enjoy their post-pitch downtime”, it added, surrounded by pieces from the collection, such as polo-shirts, running shorts and hoodies that hang above their heads on pegs. 

Two JW Anderson neon signs stand on pillars as “a nod to the most distinctive element of the brand’s shopfront at its flagship boutique in London’s Soho. 

And taking the artist link further, 12 graphic vinyls of Anglada’s original drawings are also showcased on the reverse of the locker room’s pillars.