J.W. Anderson unveils sophistication and subtle luxury for Loewe at Paris Fashion Week
New collection lifts Spanish brand from mainly accessories to full-fledged ready-to-wear
J.W. Anderson gets better versed with his vision for Loewe every season. After a good three years at the Spanish luxury house, Anderson has lifted Loewe from a major accessories house to a formidable ready-to-wear fashion house.
The new collection is a demonstration of exactly that sophistication and subtle luxury that appeal to the fan base Anderson has helped Loewe build.
This season, Anderson envisioned the living space for the Loewe woman. The show took place at the Unesco building decorated with ceramics, lamps, furniture and art pieces including a video piece composed by Magali Reus being played on big screens. Anderson has always had a tendency to stage genuine art pieces to set the tone for his shows.
The SS17 collection continues the silhouettes Anderson unveiled at AW16 - long-and-lean, fit-and-flare. The corset that was prominent for the previous collection has been exchanged for a much soft version of the peplum obi belt that creates volumes.
The feminine silhouette is accentuated by dramatic shapes and volumes rendered in balloon sleeves, recurrent fringing, patchworks and pleats.
The subtly luxurious garments are a definitive nod to Loewe’s knowhow. Anderson enlisted sophisticated craftsmanship to bring to life his deconstructed designs such as manipulating pleating with innovative washing and stitching techniques so it looks woven and worn-in.
Supple leather garments that flaunt the house’s signature expertise are aplenty such as a biased cut crop top with leather trimmings around the sleeves and the neckline and a Napa leather dress slashed and reassembled with crochets.
The new collection saw little reinterpretation of Loewe’s sold-out puzzle bags from the past few seasons yet unveiled the possibilities of the new house “it” bags such as the Canoe and the Hammock bags.
The latter was seen on the runway in a new shape with contrasting materials such as leather and burlap as well as an updated version adorned with the phrase “see u later”.
The Canoe bag too has been updated with a variety of colours, graphic prints and materials while the iconic Flamenco bag has been updated with a retro carpet design printed onto suede for a three-dimensional look.
Anderson’s kitten heel boots that matched exotic leather with soft suede looks likely to stir up quite the social media frenzy of when they hit the streets next year.
Loewe is also experimenting with the see-now-buy-now trend with four full runway looks available for pre-order instantly after the show on Loewe.com.