After eleven years at LVMH-owned Loewe, Jonathan Anderson is exiting his role of creative director. In this time Jonathan led the growth of the Spanish luxury brand, presenting a modern vision of luxury fashion and culture.
Loewe Creative Director Jonathan Anderson Exits. image: loewe.com
Jonathan Anderson is departing after eleven years as creative director of Loewe, which he transformed from a Spanish leather collective into a luxury brand steeped in contemporary culture. In recent times, Loewe’s commitment to craftsmanship can be seen in specialist collaborations, such as the Loewe Baskets collection for Salone del Mobile, ensuring that the house upholds traditional craft practices whilst simultaneously pushing the frontiers of modern expression.
“While reflecting on the last eleven years, I have been lucky enough to be surrounded by people with the imagination, the skills, the tenacity and the resourcefulness to find a way to say ‘yes’ to all my wildly ambitious ideas,” Jonathan Anderson confirmed in a statement.
“I am incredibly grateful to Jonathan Anderson for the eleven years of unmatched creativity, passion and dedication that he has given to Loewe. With him as its creative director, the House has risen to new heights with international recognition. The Puzzle bag, celebrating its 10th anniversary, has become a true icon, and the brand codes that he has created, rooted in craft, will live on as his legacy,” said Pascale Lepoivre, chief executive officer of Loewe.
‘I have had the pleasure of working with some of the great artistic directors of recent times, and I consider Jonathan Anderson to be amongst the very best. What he has contributed to LOEWE goes beyond creativity. He has built a rich and eclectic world with strong foundations in craft which will enable the House to thrive long after his departure,” said Sidney Toledano, head of LVMH Fashion Group.
Loewe Creative Director Jonathan Anderson Exits. Image: loewe.com
Everyone has something good to say about Jonathan’s Loewe. Per BoF: ‘Jonathan Anderson was a designer on a mission at Loewe, driven to expand and radicalise the opportunities that fashion offers a restless creative mind. His decade at Loewe enhanced the role of the designer. He forged an intense relationship with both art and craft, fusing creation and curation into one thought-provoking, aesthetically challenging entrepreneurial package…’
Jonathan Anderson
Anderson studied menswear at the London College of Fashion, graduating in 2005 and going on to work in visual merchandising at Prada under Manuela Pavesi. He consulted for several brands before launching JW Anderson in 2008. The label was noticed by Sophie Brocart, senior vice president of LVMH fashion ventures at the time, particularly his “shared wardrobe” approach, based on the idea that men could pick and choose from women’s wardrobes, just as women have long been able to do from those of men’s.
LVMH took a minority stake in the brand in 2013 and the Northern Irish designer was appointed creative director of the LVMH-owned Spanish luxury house Loewe in September 2013. Anderson’s appointment was accompanied by organisational changes: the design studio was moved from Madrid to Paris, while the JW Anderson brand remained based in London.
Anderson set a high bar at Loewe, transforming a Madrid-based house recognised for leather goods and perfumes into a global brand. His designs for Loewe and his signature brand JW Anderson earned several prolific awards, including the 2022 WWD Honour for Womenswear Designer of the Year, International Designer of the Year Award at the 2023 CFDA Fashion Awards, the Neiman Marcus Award for Creative Impact in the Field of Fashion in 2023 and Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards in 2024 and 2023.
Loewe
The company was founded in 1846 and acquired in 1996 by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Loewe has been reinventing leather craftsmanship for almost 200 years.
Loewe was founded in 1846 and acquired in 1996 by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. Image Source: Loewe.com
From its humble beginnings as a leather making collective in 1846 to becoming a leading global brand acquired in 1996 by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Loewe’s journey has always been defined by an obsessive focus on craftsmanship and an expertise with leather.
Based out of its main workshop in Madrid, which remains in operation to this day, the House is committed to supporting the artists and creators informing its work. Today, Loewe’s master artisans combine their craft knowledge, accumulated over generations, with new technologies to produce iconic objects presenting both instant appeal and enduring style.
Since 2013, Jonathan Anderson, Loewe’s Creative Director, has been carrying this vision ever further. Through a redesign of the brand identity, a modern articulation of its commitment to craft (with the launch of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, for instance), and a series of genre-defining Women’s and Men’s collections, Loewe has been further elevated as an influential and global cultural force.
Craft and luxury are inextricably linked, and at Loewe, the one makes the other feel more accessible and tangible. Passing down their knowledge and wisdom from one generation of master artisans to the next, our rich legacy of craftsmanship remains the living soul of the house. These core values are reflected in their belief in the importance of craft in today’s culture, modern interpretations of historical artistic achievements and their commitment to supporting contemporary art, craft and culture.
Jasmeen Dugal is Associate Editor at FashionABC, contributing her insights on fashion, technology, and sustainability. She brings with herself more than two decades of editorial experience, working for national newspapers and luxury magazines in India.
Jasmeen Dugal has worked with exchange4media as a senior writer contributing articles on the country’s advertising and marketing movements, and then with Condenast India as Net Editor where she helmed Vogue India’s official website in terms of design, layout and daily content. Besides this, she is also an entrepreneur running her own luxury portal, Explosivefashion, which highlights the latest in luxury fashion and hospitality.
