Jonathan Anderson’s Loewe exists at the intersection of fine art, high fashion, and the internet. He had a vision and a voice—a voice that transformed Loewe from a leather maker into a cultural tastemaker. He left an indelible mark on the brand before leaving it in March 2025, after 11 transformative years. Let’s look back at the Jonathan Anderson moments that moved Loewe (and fashion) forward.
A House Divided
Loewe is one of the oldest luxury houses in the world and the oldest under the LVMH umbrella. Founded in 1846 as a Spanish leathermaking collective, Loewe has been committed to craftsmanship for 178 years. It was acquired by LVMH in 1996.
While Loewe had a leather legacy, it had no distinct identity or point of view. It was marginally profitable and quickly became a thorn in LVMH’s side. It was respected but not relevant, historical but not current. Multiple attempts to revive and modernize the brand went awry. At a loss (financially and otherwise), LVMH turned its sights on someone with a vision. That someone was Jonathan Anderson.
The Missing Puzzle Piece
Before joining Loewe in 2013, Jonathan Anderson was a haute commodity in the fashion world. His eponymous brand, JW Anderson, was breaking barriers and bending gender norms. He created androgynous clothing for men, using fluid silhouettes and feminine fabrics, single-handedly subverting menswear.
His arrival at Loewe marked a seismic shift in the brand’s trajectory. He reimagined the house’s heritage through an utterly original lens. From changing the logo to showcasing the craftsmanship, he brought design sensibility, cultural fluency, and a poignant perspective.
He worked with concepts, not just designs and his first big statement was the Puzzle bag. Inspired by origami and formed from 75 pieces of leather, he called it “a deconstruction of a traditional bag into a three-dimensional object with flat functionality.”
It was Loewe’s first new shape since the 1980s, and it reshaped the brand’s future. Like the Puzzle bag, he deconstructed Loewe’s scattered identity and turned it into something cohesive, coveted, and completely new.
The Puzzle spawned a family of bags that continued to evolve, including the Puzzle Edge, the Puzzle Fold Tote, and the Featherlight Puzzle. It became an It Bag that repositioned Loewe from a heritage house to a household name.
Bags that Broke Barriers (and the Internet)
Anderson made statements, not bags. Each one started a conversation that penetrated every part of the zeitgeist. When Sarah Jessica Parker carried Loewe’s Pigeon Clutch in And Just Like That, it became one of those rare fashion moments that sparked conversations across every corner of culture and the internet. The Pigeon Clutch was a hyper-realistic design, complete with feathered wings and tiny claws. It was art as much as it was an accessory.
Anderson could make the everyday (like the city’s most common bird) feel unexpected and unforgettable. He expanded Loewe’s heritage animal bag collection, creating elephant bags, bunny bags with realistic ears that tied in knots, and frog clutches that resembled living frogs. They went beyond motifs to embody the animals themselves.
Anderson revolutionized Loewe’s entire portfolio. He reimagined the Flamenco bag and introduced the shape-shifting Hammock bag. The handwoven Basket bags showed luxury through centuries-old craft. The contemporary Gate bag brought saddle aesthetics to modern life.
The Balloon bag redefined bucket shapes while the Anagram Tote boldly carried the brand’s identity. He created the minimalist Goya bag, updated the classic Amazona, and launched the understated Cubi bag and sleek Bracelet Pouch.
The half-moon Luna bag, relaxed Paseo bag, and tactile Squeeze bag continued the evolution. His final creations included the sculptural Pebble Bucket bag and the architectural Madrid bag. Each release wasn’t just another handbag launch. It was Anderson’s thesis on how luxury could remain relevant in the digital age, a thesis that quickly became Loewe’s reality.
Voice, Vision, and a Very Recognizable Vibe
One bag cultural moment came in 2024 when @homocowboi tweeted a photo of an heirloom tomato, captioned, “This tomato is so Loewe I can’t explain it.” The tomato’s ridges and curves echoed the brand’s sculptural aesthetic. Jonathan Anderson reposted the meme and unveiled the Tomato Clutch days later, captioning it, “Loewe meme to reality.” It was the fruit of the internet’s imagination.
Loewe’s social media presence is iconic in its own right. Under Jonathan Anderson, the brand turned lo-fi chaos into high-concept storytelling. He built a universe with recurring characters, absurdist humor, and trend fluency. The content is self-aware, recognizable, and culturally relevant. At times, it feels like performance art, making lo-fi feel elevated. Most importantly, Loewe now initiates the conversation and maintains the dialogue.
From Rihanna’s Super Bowl pregnancy reveal in custom red Loewe to Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour bodysuits featuring hand motifs from his runway, Anderson dressed the most significant cultural moments of the decade. These were the collaborations that turned fashion into cultural currency. When Maggie Smith appeared in his campaigns at the age of 88, Loewe redefined whReplica Store ury could represent.
Cultural Collaborations
Anderson’s Loewe thrived on unexpected partnerships that expanded the brand’s cultural reach. His three-part Studio Ghibli collaboration brought animated fantasy into high fashion with My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, and Howl’s Moving Castle collections.
Costume design became another avenue for Anderson’s influence. His work for Luca Guadagnino’s films, particularly Challengers, tied Loewe to cinema culture and proved that fashion could be more than product placement. The infamous “I Told Ya” t-shirt became as talked about as the movie itself. These collaborations were conversations that positioned Loewe at the helm of fashion, film, and art.
Keeping It Surreal
Anderson turned everyday objects into surrealist sculptures. His annual Loewe x Paula’s Ibiza collections elevated seaside staples into coveted collectibles. His Pixel collection transformed garments into 8-bit illusions. His grass-growing garments collection, created in collaboration with bio-designer Paula Ulargui Escalona, gave a whole new meaning to organic design. His Polly Pocket-inspired pieces brought childhood nostalgia to life with glossy, molded designs.
When the Objets Trouves collection hit the runway, it transformed everyday items into the heels of shoes. Nail polish bottles, birthday candles, and cracked eggshells graced the floor and sparked conversation. His Balloon heels started as Mylar shapes before evolving into actual deflated balloons. Like the pewter metal coat he created with artist Elie Hirsch, these pieces blurred the line between sculpture and clothing.
Much like surrealist art, Jonathan’s work liberated imagination and subverted the ordinary. He made the familiar feel strange and turned it into a hyper-real version of itself. The influence of art on Jonathan Anderson’s work is unmistakable. Stepping into a Casa Loewe feels like entering an art gallery, not a store.
A Case for Authenticity
Jonathan Anderson didn’t just change Loewe. He changed the landscape of fashion itself. His work has always been driven by authenticity. It’s what sets his vision apart, grounding even the most surreal designs in a sense of realness. As he once said,
Authenticity is invaluable. Originality is nonexistent. Steal, adapt, borrow. It doesn’t matter where one takes things from. It’s where one takes them to. Devour old films, new films, history books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, whatever. Only steal from things that speak directly to you. If you do this, your work will be authentic.
As an openly queer figure in an industry that often feels heteronormative and exclusive, he brought status quo-breaking designs to the drawing table. When Jonathan Anderson sculpted Loewe into something whole and irresistible, he did more than just change the brand. He revolutionized culture.
