In the current uncertain environment of luxury consumption, brand change and replacement have become the norm, but LOEWE Loewe seems to be a rare “retrograde” in the fashion industry “. It has been more than ten years since Jonathan Anderson became the creative director. He has integrated the elements of exaggerated interest with high-end fashion, and the unique aesthetic style built for the brand is becoming more and more popular.
At the same time, LOEWE Loewe, which was born in the “Arts and Crafts Movement” in the 19th century, continues the awe of handicrafts and art in its brand gene to this day. Over the past hundred years, from the strict control of product manufacturing process to the support and development of practitioners by the establishment of the Loewe Foundation, LOEWE Loewe’s persistent practice of the original intention has gradually precipitated into a stable brand core.
In the face of the uncertainty of the times, LOEWE Loewe takes handicrafts as a clue, stringing together the vanguard and persistence, innovation and ingenuity in the brand personality. It is a positive embrace of change that allows these seemingly contradictory qualities to create new vitality in balance. Recently, the brand tried to restore a more three-dimensional and rich “behind the scenes” story to Chinese consumers through a large-scale exhibition.
An exhibition of condensation
Centennial ingenuity and artistic whims
From March 22 to May 5, 2024, LOEWE Loewe’s first large-scale exhibition “Crafted World Craftsmanship World” was opened in Shanghai Exhibition Center. This is an all-round presentation of the brand’s long history and culture, Spanish workshop spirit and handmade promise.
Jonathan Anderson, who has been in charge of creative director for ten years, is undoubtedly the person who knows the brand best. He personally planned and appeared on the opening night. This exhibition displays all the works of LOEWE Loewe that have linked creativity, skill and art in the past 178 years, aiming to “pay tribute to all craftsmen in the world who have paid their attention and inspired or created on-site exhibits.”
Jonathan Anderson, who has been in charge of creative director for ten years, is undoubtedly the person who knows the brand best. He personally planned and appeared on the opening night.
From the perspective of planning ideas, “Crafted World: Craftsmanship World” is like a three-dimensional handmade book that condenses the history of the brand, allowing visitors to embark on an immersive journey to understand its growth into a modern luxury brand. However, LOEWE is not the only protagonist. The exhibition also provides a window for the outside world to see how the brand can cooperate with many creative people to create, so as to build a multicultural system that condenses innovation, creativity and exquisite skills.
It is reported that the exhibition “Crafted World: Craftsmanship World” was jointly created by OMA Office, with an overall space of 1600 square meters. Different from the regular parallel tour line design, this exhibition follows the unique interior structure of the Shanghai Exhibition Center, allowing visitors to pick up the steps while watching the “LOEWE Loewe Pronunciation Challenge” series of images, continuously shuttling through different spaces planned around the six thematic chapters.
This exhibition follows the unique interior structure of the Shanghai Exhibition Center, allowing visitors to follow the stairs up the stairs and continuously shuttle through different spaces planned around six thematic chapters.
The first thing to enter is the chapter “Born by Craftsmanship”, which tells the story of the brand “past and present”. According to the time, the old and new, the exhibits cover the early customized leather goods, the original version of the iconic Amazona handbag, Flamenco handbag and Puzzle handbag, etc., as well as the most iconic travel dressing box customized for the royal family.
With the development of Spanish culture and art in the 20th century, the content of the exhibits has become more diverse, with the brand’s first clothing series, commercials, and works by Picasso and Spanish film director Amodovar. In the modern stage, the brand’s much-discussed “show in the box” in recent years, the cooperation with artist Anthea Hamilton, the performance costumes designed for Rihanna and Beyoncé, and even the art installations displayed in boutiques, together constitute the new look of contemporary LOEWE Loewe.
Following the “sound tunnel” full of imaging devices into the “sensory Spain” chapter, the surrounding screen plays the advertising photos and videos created by photographers Steven Meisel, Tyler Mitchell and Gray Sorrenti, bringing the beauty of the brand’s hometown of Spain to the eyes of visitors. The six tree-shaped columns in the center of the space surround the Basket and Bucket basket handbags created by the brand in cooperation with Spanish craftsmen. The selected Picasso ceramic works in Loewe’s art and handicraft collection and the Paula’s Ibiza summer time series of LOEWE Loewe are also interspersed with them.
Six tree-shaped columns surround the display of Basket and Bucket basket handbags made by the brand in cooperation with Spanish craftsmen, while Picasso’s works selected from Loewe’s art and crafts collection and LOEWE’s Paula’s Ibiza summer limited-time series are also interspersed with them.
The “Decryption Workshop” chapter restores the behind-the-scenes process of making LOEWE’s iconic handbag. From the design drawings, to the selection of materials, trimming, coloring and assembly in the leather library, to the final proofing test, this space allows visitors to understand the tedious steps of making each handbag from the perspective of the craftsman. Take Puzzle, the first handbag made by Jonathan Anderson, as an example. In order to realize its unique shape and have both softness and foldable characteristics, brand craftsmen need to carefully cut and splice more than 40 pieces of leather to ensure accurate stitching and discount.
In order to realize its unique shape, Puzzle handbag has the characteristics of softness and foldable at the same time. Brand craftsmen need to carefully cut and splice more than 40 pieces of leather to ensure accurate stitching and discount.
In addition, this exhibition displays a 2-meter-high replica of the handbag “Hal’s Moving Castle”. LOEWE Workshop uses iconic handbag elements to reinterpret Studio Ghibli’s film of the same name from a brand perspective. The respect for the craftsmanship and ingenuity of the two sides has prompted them to carry out joint cooperation several times, which is also the idea that this exhibition wants to convey.
The exhibition features a 2-metre-high replica of Howl’s Moving Castle handbag.
In the “fashion does not set limits” chapter, Jonathan Anderson carefully selected since taking office to cover the men’s and women’s clothing series a total of 69 styles. Interestingly, when visitors hold the brand applet close to some exhibits, the corresponding introduction materials will appear on the mobile phone. Representative fashions are displayed together with artistic installations and works that have provided him with design inspiration, such as William Turnbull bronze sculpture “Idol” (1956) and Haegue Yang’s textile “Hanging Embrace with Hair” (2018), etc., depicting the changes of LOEWE Loewe’s ready-to-wear style.
The last two chapters focus on artisans and artists who have worked extensively with Loewe over the years. The “World Artists” chapter is a listing of the works of the LOEWE Foundation Handicraft Award and the Milan Furniture Fair over the years, and together with the commentary video, it reveals creative ideas. The “Unexpected Dialogue” brings together the world of art ideas that inspired LOEWE Loewe in the past ten years. Through nine interactive exhibition halls, with the help of different digital technologies and art forms, visitors can immerse themselves in the fairy tale scenes hidden in the walls of Japanese potter Suna Fujita and the lifelike Brainard collages of Joe.
It can be seen that the “Crafted World: Craftsmanship World” brand exhibition is a brand-new subversion of the traditional brand exhibition. The contents of the exhibits include multiple forms. While telling the development and changes of LOEWE Loewe, it also reflects the social and cultural features of its era. This idea of seeing the big from the small shows the brand’s awe and humility of craftsmanship, which in turn attracts more craft art creators to participate in it, and constantly enriches the brand connotation.
As a result, the exhibition leaves almost 1/2 of its content to the artists it works with or supports, as well as to the local Spanish scenery and workshops. It is more like a humanities and arts network connected by LOEWE Loewe. The brand is not in a strong dominant position, but a space for free communication and connection with many creative people.
From craft-led luxury
to trend-setting fashion houses
On the eve of the opening of the exhibition, LOEWE Loewe took the lead in releasing a group of creative videos of “Loewe Pronunciation Challenge” shot by Yang Mi, a global spokesperson, on social media. The inspiration of the video is closely related to the history of the brand. The word “LOEWE” derived from German is a bit difficult to pronounce and even evolved into various pronunciations.
LOEWE Loewe took the lead in releasing a group of creative videos of “Loewe Pronunciation Challenge” shot by Mini Yang, a global spokesperson, on social media.
But LOEWE does not shy away from this, but uses a humorous attitude as a creative opportunity to establish resonance with young consumers. The brand combines this interesting “mistake” with the current hot short video challenge play, and calls on people around the world to actively participate in and understand this century-old luxury brand.
In 1846, LOEWE originated in a small leather workshop in Madrid; 30 years later, Mr. Loewe Roessberg, an artisan-turned-Enrique, named it. LOEWE’s pursuit of exquisite craftsmanship soon attracted the favor of a large number of princes and nobles, and was later awarded the title of official royal supply by King Alfonso XIII of Spain.
Entering the 20th century, LOEWE began to launch a series of garments and opened a number of boutiques one after another, thus opening the stage of brand management. At the same time, the LOEWE Loewe family of “Do not forget your initiative mind” founded the LOEWE Loewe Foundation in 1988 to support the protection of cultural and creative heritage and the cultivation of handicraft talents. It has also established educational projects in the fields of poetry, dance and crafts.
Products that combine craftsmanship and creativity, and the culture of ingenuity rooted in genes, are mutually reinforcing, pushing LOEWE’s influence beyond Spain. However, LOEWE has truly become a luxury brand in the modern sense, starting from its acquisition by LVMH Group in 1996.
With the blessing of this luxury giant, LOEWE has accelerated the pace of global expansion. Jonathan Anderson, who joined in 2013, played a crucial role in this process. The two most critical questions for a century-old luxury brand to be able to survive in historical changes are to answer “who I am”, that is, to stick to the brand gene; and “where to go”, that is, how to combine the times to give it a new life.
As Jonathan Anderson wrote in the preface to the exhibition’s “Fashion Without Limits”, “I joined LOEWE with a beautiful vision: to break the brand between craft, art and fashion. I hope that craft can be widely displayed as a science, thus enhancing people’s common understanding of the nature of craft and its potential.” Now looking back on his eleven years in office, he has forged the “New LOEWE Loewe Aesthetics” with his long-flowing creativity from all aspects of visual system, garment strategy, process gene continuation, etc “.
In terms of the balance between creativity and commerce, Jonathan Anderson started with the ready-to-wear series, combining the seriousness and boldness of high-end fashion with the creative concept of interesting pioneers, and established a distinctive brand image for LOEWE Loewe. In this way, the “long grass” single product created by sowing chia seeds and catnip into the men’s clothing series in spring and summer of 2023, the accessories of women’s clothing series in spring and summer of 2024, the on-site installation and the Benglis cooperation with artist Lynda, etc., have expanded the creative space of fashion expression with diversified artistic forms.
As for handbags, the most critical “cash cow” in the luxury industry, Jonathan Anderson is good at reshaping and innovating LOEWE’s craft spirit from a contemporary perspective, including the Flamenco series with iconic knots and the Puzzle series inspired by geometric cutting, which have been repeatedly engraved in this exhibition, making the explosions a classic item through the popular cycle.
According to the list of popular brands released by fashion e-commerce company Lyst last year, LOEWE Loewe ranked in the top five for four consecutive quarters, and won the first place for the first time in the second quarter. It is not surprising that LOEWE Loewe, which takes product creativity as the cornerstone and uses joint and celebrity marketing, has become the focus of the industry, but the brand still has more long-term considerations.
In terms of the continuation of the brand’s craft gene, in 2016, under the initiative of the Jonathan Anderson, the Loewe Foundation created the Loewe Foundation Craft Award, which is not only a tribute to the origin of the brand workshop, but also to enable innovative talents in the field of art and modern craft technology to be “seen”. The “Universal Artists” chapter in the exhibition is a concentrated presentation of the award-winning works.
It is worth mentioning that the art installation “Entropy Reduction in Chaos” on display comes from 23-year-old Chinese finalist Huang Wanbing, whose works often combine traditional Chinese handicrafts with modern installation aesthetics. The monochrome glazed ceramic admiralty bowl series created by Deng Xiping, a representative national intangible cultural heritage inheritor, once again appeared in “Crafted World Craftsmanship World” after 22 years of exhibition at the Shanghai 21 Contemporary Art Fair. The monochrome glaze art represented by this work is also the inspiration for LOEWE’s 23 early spring handbags.
The monochrome glazed ceramic admiralty bowl series created by Deng Xiping, the representative inheritor of national intangible cultural heritage, once again appears in “Crafted World Craftsmanship World.
This extends another topic that has sparked industry discussion in recent years, namely, “Why is LOEWE Loewe’s localized narrative in the Chinese market a great success?” The fundamental reason lies in the brand’s strategy for specific markets, which is to continue to pay attention to and support practitioners of local handicraft culture and art with a sincere attitude, and then discover the opportunity for cooperation and connection between the two sides.
With the rapid growth and steady recovery of global luxury consumption, LOEWE Loewe seems to provide a strategic paradigm against cyclical turbulence for the industry, that is, all innovations and creations made by brands should not only cater to trends, but also consider how to incorporate them into the cultural system established by the brand for a long time. Obviously, a century-old luxury brand’s adherence to its mission and courage to embrace change are clearly presented through the exhibition “Crafted World: Craftsmanship World.
(المصدر: VOGUE Business)
