Designs of a Decade, as Jonathan Anderson Marks 10-years at Loewe
Review of Loewe Spring 2025 Men’s Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
THE THEME
As with Kim Jones’ Dior Men’s collection the day before, spring 2025 was a personal endeavour for Anderson who included artists who were committed to a singular vision (much like himself) in his show to celebrate his 10-year anniversary with the Spanish house.
Within the showspace artwork by Paul Thek provided the decoration. The American painter and sculptor, is known for his challenging pieces which radicalised the art world, such as his hyper-realistic wax sculptures depicting meat and was a commentary on human disembodiment which followed a visit to the Capuchin catacombs in Palermo. Alongside Thek’s work was a coatrack from Charles Rennie Mackintosh, an easel from Carlo Scarpa, shoe from Peter Hujar and a collection of essays from Susan Sontag titled ‘Against Interpretation’. All representative of everyday objects whose meaning is changed by the act of removing them from their domestic setting, and of course how the viewer ‘interprets’ them. This is also how Anderson has shaped his tenure at Loewe, skewing our ideas of the not-so-mundane things which surround us, as we go about our daily lives.
In keeping with another one of the underlying moods of the season, there were a lot more wearable silhouettes in the soft tailored jackets and wide leg trousers in white. As well as a number of tonal looks in chocolate and grey, the latter a standout piece for its simplicity and universally appealing construction of high waist pleated front pant.
Day-to-night dressing for men was one area which another fellow British designer – Bianca Saunders – had noted still had not been fully realised within the mens market. Here, even though the creative director is known for his thought-provoking designs, he offered up a solution in the simplest of embellished tanks, either sequinned and depicting feathers or rendered with mini metal tubes forming a cage-like structure reminiscent of a watch strap.
Baring it all, has also been a key feature of a number of shows this season. As shirtless men have paraded up and down runways from Paris to Milan. At Loewe, it seemed to serve a more noble purpose in the amplification of voluminous trousers that were expertly draped and gathered into the waist. The waist was also a key focal point as belts (a detail of last season’s collection where they they were cut in half) became a wrap-around feature attached to the waist of trousers and the hem of cropped shirts, creating a new take on the all-in-one. All-in-ones were also sprinkled throughout, as a chevron-printed ‘onesie’ and an only-for-the-brave look which incorporated an ultra-low curved opening in the shape of a U, that is just waiting for the red-carpet treatment by one of the house’s many A-list male fans.
And this is how you make branding look new, and not a throwback to logomania. Here, the Loewe name graces the front of a draped top in graphic orange or white, which makes it appear as if you are wearing a piece of art or had folded a poster into a makeshift piece of clothing.
And where his JW Anderson brand is the designers playground for new ideas, some of those also made the leap onto the Loewe runway. As a silicone-like coating which gave knitwear a lace-trimmed trompe l’oeil effect bib, was also used to coat and flatten cable knits in a boxy shirt and shorts set, as if capturing the spring 2025 collection for posterity.
THE BUZZWORDS
Designs of a decade, waist focus, modern art(work)
THE SHOWSTOPPER
Look # 36
Jonathan Anderson has more than proved his mettle at Loewe and here he presents an alternative vision for men’s day-to-night dressing with a sculptural tank and draped volume pants.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
I think all these individuals are radicals. They’re radicals because they think differently…Paul Thek was able to create installations that made people change the way they see contemporary art”
Jonathan Anderson, creative director, Loewe
THE WRAP UP
Todays collection marked Anderson’s 10 year anniversary with the Spanish house, when in June 2014 he made his debut with menswear. So, it was a homecoming for the designer and a mini-retrospective of-sorts, as then there was also a focus on statement trousers. For that collection it was a pair of straight legs with a deep turn-up in a sharp white that were used in every shot, bar one, and set out the designers intentions to reinvent simplicity.
A radical is often thought of as extreme, progressive, revolutionary. And since Anderson burst onto the scene with his frill-trimmed men’s shorts, subsequently followed by stepping into the fray by taking up a position as creative director with Loewe, the house hasn’t stopped breaking with convention. Under his creative leadership, for over a decade, there has been a shift in the acceptance that radical can be commercially viable. Whether they be giant pin trims or ballon shoes, super high-waisted pants or grass-sprouting sneakers, he has done it all and even in though the wearers may be intrepid on first try, Anderson always leaves them wanting more with every season.
