Jonathan Anderson is in a questioning mood. Can the past be more modern and challenging than the future? In a Hong Kong antique shop, he found an early 18th-century screen from Japan—koi jumping over waves—that he thought looked so damn modern, it flummoxed him. The new Loewe collection came from his efforts to process that feeling: something old, something new, something borrowed, and all the time wondering, "What is right or wrong for Loewe?"
Anderson has already changed the company beyond recognition. The leather goods that were always Loewe's mainstay were today airbrushed with rockets and ray guns. Black leather karate pants and matching shirts were cut from almost paper-thin kangaroo. Aside from that Japanese screen, Anderson's other challenge to the conventions of here-and-now modernity has been the old Bruce Lee movies he's been watching.
But there was also a sweatshirt sporting an image of Disney's Goofy in the collection. There were pajamas with a generic princess motif, which distilled a few Disney princesses, and elongated sci-fi suits covered with manga graphics. Menswear? Not as we know it. Among the jewelry were gold potato chip brooches. Playful kid stuff. "They make me smile," Anderson said. "It's not always serious, not always about winning."
But he is serious, of course. The amount of time he spends developing fabrics is testament to that. Here, there was a double-breasted linen trench waterproofed with a special wax treatment that left it surreally soft and light. And the piece Anderson was most proud of: a double jacquard jacket, chenille on the inside, cotton/linen outside. From the beginning at Loewe, he has talked about "finding new classics." There are early indications he'll be able to do that, but he might find his question about the future answers itself. It will be more challenging than the past.
