Creative director Jonathan Anderson leaves Loewe

After persistent rumors that had become louder in the past few months, the Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson has now publicly announced that he will hand over the creative direction of the Spanish fashion house Loewe. He had held the position for eleventh years and had successfully revived both the Aura and the essence and creative codes of the traditional house founded in Madrid in 1846.

In an emotional letter that he shared via his social networks, the British fashion designer now announced the end of this chapter and his farewell to Loewe. In this letter, he initially accounts for his lifestyle and professional time as creative director of Loewe since the task was given to him in 2013. At that time he took over the post from his also British predecessor Stuart Vevers, who had held the creative direction of the brand from July 2007 to June 2013 before his change to the US label Coach was announced. The conclusion with a farewell mood Anderson finally concluded with the confirmation of the “end of his chapter” as creative director of Loewe.

“Eleven years ago I had the incredible opportunity to write a chapter in a 179-year-old story,” said Andersson, who had been appointed head of Loewe’s design department by the French luxury goods group LVMH, to whom the Spanish fashion house has been part of 1996. “From day one, I found soul mandates at Loewe in the design studio and in the workshop, whose talents were and are unsurpassed,” he emphasized and turned directly to his employees: Inside “Thank you for shared your art”. From then on, “I was lucky in the past eleven years of being surrounded by people with the necessary imagination, the skills, persistence and ingenuity in order to find a way to ‘yes’,” said Andersson. “In retrospect, I realized that a label does not arise at the first fashion show or even in the first year, but slowly, from season after season, from year after year, on which what is correct for the brand is built”.

Andersson also emphasized a special achievement at the head of Loewe. “One of the successes that I am most proud was was the introduction of the ‘Craft Prize'”, a prize for craftsmanship with which it was possible to “create a platform that really supports and visible a handicraft, young creative, old masters and new ideas.” For this work, he wanted to “thank the Foundation’s team, the jury members and the expert committee for their time and commitment”.

These contributed to creating a prize, the formation of which fully corresponded to the global creative vision, which Anderson developed for Loewe. A company for which he himself had to “create a cultural brand from the first day to create a cultural brand” – an idea that “largely supports the trust and generosity of the numerous artists, artisans, private collections, foundations, museums and galleries that contributed to this with their work”. For this he was “sincerely grateful”.

In addition, Anderson “thanked everyone who supported me and my vision and all people who made every fashion showed”, as well as “those who participated in campaigns, wrote articles, bought articles or simply liked the articles”, because: “You made it possible”. At the end, the British designer wrote: “It is said that all the best has an end, but I don’t agree with it.

Loewe confirms Anderson’s farewell

After the detailed letter from the former creative director of Loewe, the Madrid fashion house and the parent company LVMH and the parent company said goodbye. Both companies paid tribute to the successful work that he had done in the past eleven years, but not yet announced how the future course of Loewe and his design department will look like this stages. In addition, rumors are still circulating that Anderson could be appointed the new creative director of Dior. This speculation was recently not confirmed or denied by everyone involved.

“I am Jonathan Anderson incredibly grateful for the eleven years of incomparable creativity, passion and devotion that he devoted to Loewe,” praised Pascale Lepoivre, who has headed the fashion house as a managing director since 2016. “With him as a creative director, the house has reached new heights of international recognition.” “Die Puzzle Bag, which celebrates its tenth anniversary,” said Lepoivre for his unique creations. It has already become “a true icon” and a reference for the “codes of the brand he created, based on craftsmanship” and will “have its legacy”.

“I had the pleasure of working with some of the greatest artistic leaders in recent times, and I think Jonathan Anderson is one of the best,” emphasized Sidney Toledano, the long -time CEO of the fashion division of LVMH and current personal advisor of CEO Bernard Arnault. What Anderson contributed to Loewe “go beyond creativity,” says Toledano. In the past eleven years, the outgoing designer “created a rich and versatile universe with strong roots in the craft that will enable the house to flourish far beyond his farewell”.