What makes a conversation a good conversation? The interlocutor. Jonathan Anderson, creative director of Loewe and founder of the firm that bears his name, masters the themes that all luxury brand owners want their designers to handle. In the era of the fleeting position (according to the specialized publication WWD, half of the talents at the helm of European firms have held the title for less than five years) it is about to celebrate a decade in the label of Spanish origin owned by LVMH, from which it has not ceased to arouse the curiosity of the audience and the desire of the consumer.
As an example, the Spring/Summer 2024 collection presented yesterday in Paris before the pupils of stars such as Pharrell Williams or Rauw Alejandro and the presence of three sources by the American artist Lynda Benglis. Her liquid sculptures (she is famous for her works in latex) and the idea of water (how it runs, how it changes, how it adapts) supported the vision of a creative with ideas that, instead of adjusting to ill-fated trends or whims of the client, invite to explore alternative paths.
Outfits that start out in nappa leather and end up in suede, pieces drenched in crystals, a knit as thick as it is soft, and a new twist on the Puzzle bag (if the accessories market is based on repetition, its construction with patches in what looks like a kind of chance means that no two look alike) served to underline the most important thing: a new silhouette that, just like the eyes from which one looks, alters the perspective of things.
“I like that idea of looking from below, like through a fisheye lens, making the torso smaller and the legs getting longer,” Anderson commented after the presentation. With this change of proportions, he managed to get all present and future spectators to adopt the point of view of those invited to the parade, for everyone to look from bottom to top, to complete the exercise of putting themselves in another's place.
It also gave an air of vulnerability to the new. Balancing the popular with the lofty, the obvious with the subtle or complicated, is a difficult art to master, especially in the fashion industry, where any combination of the intellectual and the commercial runs the risk of sinking into a mess. sea of indifference Anderson navigates those waters comfortably. His ideas do not interfere with the product. On the contrary: his ideas justify his existence.
