Jonathan Anderson’s first ten years at Loewe become an exhibition

Among the most used tools to talk about fashion, exhibitions are certainly the most effective. The downside is that, all too often, promotional intent takes precedence over storytelling. Especially in monographic exhibitions, dedicated to a single creator. In other words, we lose sight of the fact that certain events are intended for a vast and heterogeneous audience to be involved and entertained regardless of their knowledge of the subject. A mistake that Jonathan Anderson did not make when he decided to celebrate, with an exhibition, his first ten years at the creative helm of Loewe, a historic Spanish brand that he transformed into one of the pillars of contemporary costume. Loewe Crafted World, at the Shanghai Exhibition Center until May 5th, proves to be an intelligent and ironic event, in which the designer’s personal story blends with entertainment, history and highly Instagrammable visual effects.

«When I arrived at Loewe in 2014, I was an arrogant brat. I remember that in one of my first interviews, I think with Suzy Menkes, I said something like: “Luxury is dead”. At LVMH they were perplexed”, the designer now says. «It took me time to frame what I wanted to say, because it’s not enough to capture the spirit of a fashion house: you have to contextualize it in the present».
Even more difficult is to transform such a complex reasoning into an exhibition, but the designer, assisted by the Oma studio that created the project, succeeded by combining Japanese anime and catwalks, Pablo Picasso’s ceramics and industrial machinery, traditions handcrafted and the stage costumes of Beyoncé and Rihanna.

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The first room is an overview of the brand’s 178-year history, from creations for the Spanish royal family, including a box decorated with a silver mouse that Anderson adores, to the coat with painted wooden lapels from his most recent collection . We then pass through the gallery dedicated to the correct pronunciation of Loewe (it is said Lo-ev-eh, as the testimonial Yang Mi, actress and singer, spells out on the screens), to arrive at the room focused on the Mediterranean Sea and visit the area where it is illustrated , step by step, how the brand’s bags are made. Here a wall is dedicated to the flower-shaped tool holders used by craftsmen, which also stand out on the posters that cover Shanghai. Then you come face to face with one of the most spectacular pieces: a 3 meter high version of a manor made of oversized bags – a tribute to the animated film Howl’s Moving Castle and Studio Ghibli, with which the brand has collaborated more times. From here you end up in an enormous, aseptic chessboard where 69 looks designed by Anderson are lined up. This is the designer’s favorite room. «We stylists create and produce continuously, often losing the perception of what we do. Here, seeing my work all together, I understood that I had created a precise language. Which surprised me.”

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We talk about craftsmanship in the literal sense in the raised islands dedicated to the winners of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize and the projects created by the brand for the Salone del Mobile and then enter a sequence of nine rooms, dedicated to as many creative partnerships: there is the reproduction of Ken Price’s studio in New Mexico, the mountain of carpets by John Allen, the one with porthole walls from which to study the glazed miniatures of the Japanese ceramist Suna Fujita, and so on. We have fun, even without knowing Loewe’s history or Anderson’s thoughts. And in fact, he confirms: «In the end, it is the story of a journey, mine. It’s simple, there’s nothing complicated.”