Following some of his well-heeled clients to a current preferred destination, Frederick Anderson is heading to Puerto Rico next week to debut his summer 2025 collection.
To help raise his profile and gain new shoppers, the designer has invited 14 editors, stylists and influencers to what will be his first destination show. Two hundred people are on the guest list for the Dec. 13 event, which will be held at the historic Antiguo Casino in Old San Juan. Fittingly, the New York-based creative has named his collection “Puerto Rico, America,” and the event will play up the island’s social and cultural significance.
The idea sprang from a conversation that Anderson had with another New York-based designer, Carlos Campos, about Puerto Rico’s evolution. (The billionaire brothers David and Simon Reuben are reportedly partnering with Three Rules Capital for a $2 billion, 2,000-acre development called “Esencia” that will include hotels operated by the Aman Group, the Oriental Hotel Group and Rosewood Hotels & Resorts.) Anderson said, “All of this new wealth is moving there, because of the tax breaks. This is changing their demographics, but it’s been slow to respond. They still haven’t recovered from that whole debacle during COVID a few years ago.”
The Caribbean island has become a haven for wealthy residents, and corporations that export services, looking for tax breaks. Puerto Rico does not have federal income taxes on passive income from investments or rental properties, or taxes on capital gains among other things. A number of Anderson’s clients have moved there or are traveling there more frequently, including one who runs an investment fund and opened an office there to accommodate her clients who are now living there.
Anderson said he was already at work on a collection that considered African heritage, when the prospect of showing in Puerto Rico arose. That resonated, since “a lot of that western and northern African influence came through to Puerto Rico,” he said. “We talk about the influence of African Americans, but Puerto Rico is part of America’s territory. What are the influences there?”
How the Bomba — the music, drumming and dance that was brought to Puerto Rico by enslaved Africans and their descendants — played into American culture has woven into the collection’s ethos. The Puerto Rico Convention District Authority is offering financial support for next week’s show by covering the travel expenses for the editors. The designer declined to discuss his investment in the show.
Although a trunk show is planned in Puerto Rico to meet new clients, Anderson was reluctant to discuss how the show will boost business. He said, “I’m telling my story. Puerto Rico is telling their story, and it’s a sexy story. We don’t need to monetize the end result. The end result for all of us is elevation.”
Shortly after committing to the event, Anderson said “that guy with the RNC came up with that ridiculousness of floating trash,” an apparent reference to the comedian Tony Hinchcliffe calling Puerto Rico an “island of garbage,” during Donald Trump’s October rally in Madison Square Garden. That incident was another reminder of one of the incentives for having a runway show there — the importance of changing people’s perception of Puerto Rico, according to Anderson.
With annual sales of $650,000, Anderson wholesales to a handful of stores in the U.S. and a few overseas, and he will continue to do so. He also plans to increase the direct-to-consumer side of the business via online. The latter leads to 66 percent margins versus 27 percent for wholesale, he said.
Frederick Anderson
Anderson will also soon be following his clients to Palm Beach. An informal show is set for Jan. 16 at The Colony, thanks to the hotel’s co-owner Sarah Wetenhall, who is also a client and friend. There will also be a two-day pop-up, dinners and cocktails with clients, and a Q&A with The Palm Beach Post.
Noting how namesake designers like Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera catered to international clients, Anderson aims to do the same. “Obviously, what I’m talking about is the global perception of Frederick Anderson, as opposed to just being a Stateside designer. It’s not just a matter of my clients starting to go to Puerto Rico. They’ll be going there more once the Aman opens there. I like being the first one in. We’re in fashion — we’re supposed to be the leaders. We take people places where they will say a year from now, ‘Oh my God, I heard about that,’” he said, “I want to be the first one in — not the one showing up once the Aman is built.”
He continued, “It’s the same thing with Palm Beach. It’s hot right now. I want to be there at the top of the market.”
