Review of Loewe Spring 2024 Men’s Fashion Show
Perspective Shift
By Mark Wittmer
Dwarfed by the monumental water sculptures by American artist Lynda Benglis that sprouted like massive bronze mushrooms from the runway, Jonathan Anderson’s Spring 2024 men’s collection seemed almost quaint and straightforward by his own surreal design standards. But upon closer inspection, his work reveals a unique craft imagination that illuminates and obscures a typical menswear wardrobe.
A concise core silhouette was established from the opening looks – high waist, long leg, compact chest – which provided a skeleton for whimsical craft ingenuity to flesh out.
The sober shirt and pants combo is elongated and made to sparkle, echoing the play of light created by the dancing water effects of Benglis’ sculpture. The pristine and sharp core silhouette is then disrupted via chunky and voluminous brightly colored knitwear and made to collide with traditional slim-fit suiting silhouettes.
Though seemingly consistent and low-key in category and silhouette, Anderson continues to invite us to look twice as he twists and teases apart the familiar. Cardigans with built-in double collars provide a deceptive layering effect. The homey knitwear earlier on in the collection is industrially distorted via glitchy, deconstructed paneling effects. A kind of Dadaist penchant for found objects from previous seasons makes a brief return in the meta moment of a top that’s just a sculptural swathe of fabric with an oversized needle pushed through it.
It’s Loewe, so of course, some star leather goods and accessories will be on display; these include an origami-like riff on the classic tote bag, cute cloggy shoes, and bedazzled sunglasses. Leather makes its way boldly into the ready-to-wear as jumpsuits, tunics, and a pants-and-jacket set with an innovative degradé treatment.
A rethinking of perspective has always been a core value in Jonathan Anderson’s design work, but this collection spells it out more strongly and precisely than we’ve seen it before, bringing it from a latent intuition to a primary message. By simplifying the core silhouette, the unique treatment of material and subversive breaks with tradition, the add ons become more apparent, more challenging, and more inspiring.