By Aaron Kok - published
If there’s one thing you can count on Jonathan Anderson to do at LOEWE, it’s to serve you the unexpected.
Mind you, this was the brand that once had a giant plexiglass flower in the centre of the runway, grass sprouting out of coats, and giant colourful cubes disintegrating as models strolled by in the past.
Nothing is subtle about Anderson for LOEWE.
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So what’s the most radical thing that a fashion rebel like Anderson can do? Go in the opposite direction for his spring/summer 2025 showing.
In general, this season has been marked by a pulling back of the theatrics at many shows, and LOEWE’s show venue also felt pared down when compared to previous seasons. In a stark white room that was punctuated by a singular Tracey Emin pole-like sculpture, opening paragraphs from the show notes asked the audience “What happens when one takes all the noise away? Is it possible to fill an empty white room, commanding attention, without shouting for space?”
Could Anderson be joining the legion of designers and giving us “straightforward and easy”?
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Save your gasps, because the wunderkind still delivered big on the playful and the unexpected.
Where last season’s focus was on the bucolic artworks of Albert York—which translated into breathtaking and obsessive caviar beading of everything from beetroots to floral boots—this season, Anderson and company chose to strip everything back.
The focus here was the silhouette, and what marvellous silhouettes he delivered.
First looks that hit the runway featured faded floral organza dresses that resembled crinolines from the 1800s gaily bouncing on an attached cage, as if they’ve found second life as summer’s new must-have dress. Leather jackets, often cut in nipped fits, now swing out into trapeze-shaped tops that offer you plenty of movement and ease. One of the micro-trends of the season was clothing that looked like they were suspended mid-breeze, and Anderson checked this box with his coats that had their fronts lifted through wiring built into the hemlines.
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Anderson’s favourite mini dresses, which have come pleated in the past, are now given a tactile update through wet-look sequins that glisten seductively in the spotlights. These were worn with flat sneaker-boot hybrids, imbuing it with a spirit of adventure rather than common sexuality.
This is still an Anderson for LOEWE exercise, after all, so a melange of differences is to be expected. Just look at the runway, which had every and any kind of celebrity seated: from pop idol S.Coups from SEVENTEEN and of-the-moment actors like Ayo Edebiri, Greta Lee and Drew Starkey, to ’90s rom-com queen Meg Ryan and even 007 himself, Daniel Craig.
On the runway, this assemblage of references became apparent when Anderson sent out his homages to the likes of Chopin, Bach and Picasso.
LOEWE is a House founded in 1846, and if you hang around LOEWE’s stores enough, you’re bound to hear someone utter the word “classic” when looking at their bags. In this show, Anderson is not interested in creating classics. If anything, he’s here to turn classicism on its head.
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Picasso’s famous painting of sunflowers are now re-rendered on a yellow t-shirt that’s made with feathers, then teamed with a comically elongated men’s shoe. A print of the composer Bach gets a similar treatment, albeit the entire plumed top is also printed to look like a sweatshirt. These were Anderson’s way of delving into merch culture, whilst retaining the over-the-top luxury and eccentricity that he’s beloved for.
And on the topic of over-the-top luxury, there was a shrunken trench coat made from pieces of mother-of-pearl that were sanded down into wafer-thin pieces, then assembled by hand to create a heart-stopping iridescent look.
Classic meets craft meets modern lines, just the way Anderson wants it.