Loewe Weaves collection launches with Sotheby's

From basketry to blanket making, a cacophony of craft techniques have been given a global platform by Loewe’s Jonathan Anderson. The Madrid label’s Loewe Foundation Craft Prize – inaugurated in 2017 and culminating in its fourth edition on 25 May 2021 – has also celebrated a host of artisanal traditions, with its winners excelling in lacquering, hand-coiled ceramics and woodwork. 

Now, in a reinforcement of the label's commitment to craft – described by Anderson as ‘central to Loewe's identity' – the brand has teamed up with Sotheby's on a sale of artist-embellished Galician chestnut roasters. These impressive handmade pots, idiosyncratic of their hole-punched surface, have been created by master potter Antonio Pereira. They have then been reinterpreted by three global artists, Japan's Arko, China's Min Chen and Spain's Laia Arqueros, and accented with bristles of rice straw, bamboo flowers or tongue-wagging glazed ceramic figurative accents. Seven chestnut roasters are available to purchase online at a fixed price through Sotheby's Buy Now online marketplace.

Loewe Weaves chesnut roasters

In celebration of the sale, Loewe also asked a host of its frequent collaborators and makers to reinterpret the chestnut roaster form, including its own in-house artisans, and Spain's Idoia Cuesta and Belen Martinez. Cuesta's work was also featured at the brand's ‘Loewe Baskets' Salone del Mobile exhibition in 2019, and she also created intricate woven leather tops for the label's S/S 2021 menswear collection. 84 designs – which will be exhibited and sold within Loewe boutiques worldwide – have been left in their raw form, glazed or painted, and explode in a profusion of fabric flowers, or have their surfaces braided with upcycled colourful ribbons, rope and leather string.

Loewe's bag designs have also been given the chestnut roaster treatment. A selection of its signature designs, including the Balloon Bag, have been embellished with discarded materials. The Loewe Weaves collection will be available at Loewe stores and loewe.com from 27 May 2021.

 INFORMATION

loewe.com; sothebys.com