Scene setting: There’s something sublimely serene about the aesthetic landscape Jonathan Anderson has cultivated at Loewe. His show venues and collaborations hark to tranquil art-filled spaces or the calm turquoise seas that lap against the shores of Ibiza. For S/S 2020 the Madrid label lined the meandering rooms of its usual Maison de L’Unesco show venue with plush cream carpet. Dotted around the space were tall twinkly amethyst geodes and enormous pots of South American Pampass grass. As the show began the pots began twisting in a mechanical motion and the lace shutters lining the venue’s window began quietly moving.
Mood board: Anderson has become a master of creating utterly desirable silhouettes that combine enduring elegance with his off-kilter eccentricity. Proportion was up front and center for spring, with the brand exploring ‘extremes of femininity’, that incorporated ethereal transparent dresses with voluminous panniers, jackets with dense ruffled inserts, parkas with ballooning parachute sleeves, skirts with subtle bubble shapes, and tailored coats with cascading fronds. There was a patrician behind silhouettes that had sharp Puritanical collars or voluminous ruffs and were swathed in delicate black and white Chantilly and marguerite lace. This severity was offset against more seductive touches, like scarf fringe halter necks with open backs and ribbed knitwear with saucy marabou trims in boudoir lilacs and soft pink.
Finishing touches: Anderson’s ‘exploration of ornament’ was notable in half elliptical clutch bags trimmed with marabou, and the long fringing which hung from its Mini Puzzle shoulder bag or the bejeweled hibiscus brooch adorning its Heel pouch. The Bucket bag is fast becoming the bag shape of the season, with Prada and Chloé introducing it on the catwalk. Loewe’s new drawstring version, the ‘Balloon’ was imagined in crochet raffia, canvas and calfskin. §
