Who are Loewe’s new creative directors?

by Camille Bois-Martin.

Publié le 24 march 2025. Modifié le 14 April 2025.

Proenza Schouler, a pillar of American fashion

Long gone are the days when designers would head fashion houses for decades, even those they founded. It is the case for Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, who launched their label Proenza Schouler using their respective mothers’ maiden names in 2002 and have just been appointed creative directors of Loewe.

Both students at Parsons School of Design, the duo presented their first collection during their graduation ceremony. Among the audience was a certain Julie Gilhart. The latter fell in love with their work and bought their pieces for the New York department store Barneys, where she was director.

Those first steps in the fashion world were highly successful, but didn’t impress the young designers. With refined silhouettes emphasizing the mastery of cuts, a sober color palette and a timeless,trend-proof style, the American brand has kept growing for over twenty years. As the founding duo
have stayed at the helm of the collections, Proenza Schouler has kept its DNA intact and won over customers with its cool, conceptual image.

The muses who have inspired the designers over the years are a testament to that, from the charismatic Natasha Lyonne to the artist Olympia Scarry, the writer Ottessa Moshfegh and, above all, the rock star Chloë Sevigny. A close friend of the house since its debut, the latter opened the Fall/Winter 2023-2024 show two years ago, as Proenza Schouler celebrated its 20th anniversary.

Since then, their shows have become increasingly minimalist. So much so that they only welcomed around a hundred people last season and presented their collection outside the official New York Fashion Week schedule. They didn’t even attend the February edition – an omen since Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez eventually announced that they would step down as creative directors of their own brand on January 31st. Ralph Lauren or Michael Kors did it before them, and Dries Van Noten has recently taken the same decision…

Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez at Loewe: The start of a new era

While the two designers and founders of Proenza Schouler will remain shareholders in their company and part of the board of directors, their departure leaves one wondering. “Our twentieth anniversary prompted a deep reflection,” they shared in a press release with the announcement.

“We have always valued risk-taking and a sense of adventure, and feel ready to open ourselves up for whatever comes next”. For twenty years, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez have solely focused on their brand.

Despite being a pillar of American fashion – the duo is a three-time winner of the Designer of the Year award at the CFDA Womenswear in 2007, 2011 and 2013 – the brand suffers from its independence nonetheless. Since it doesn’t belong to any major group, it navigates through the whim of various
investors. The designers even bought back some of the label’s shares in 2018.

Proenza Schouler is also struggling to establish itself among the major fashion houses, especially in Paris. It remains a brand widely appreciated by fashion aficionados, but merely known to the public, although two shows were presented in the French capital.

A major challenge for Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez

At almost 40, the American designers are hoping to open a new chapter after their departure, not only for their brand, with the arrival of a new fashion designer, but also for themselves, with a new vision
and new identity.

Taking over from Jonathan Anderson at Loewe, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez are preparing to join a fast-paced environment. They will have to design six collections a year and deal with beauty lines and numerous collaborations…

But above all, they will have to follow the rule of success, especially at a time when designers no longer seem to have the right to make mistakes – Daniel Lee’s departure from Burberry is one example. They must become iconic, whatever the cost, even more so as they are succeeding Jonathan
Anderson, who turned Loewe into the iconic, ultra-trendy Spanish fashion house we know today.

A new chapter for the Spanish fashion house and for the American designers

With Proenza Schouler, the designers have created one of the most famous brands in the United States, in spite of an already saturated market. Keeping up Loewe’s influence doesn’t seem like an impossible task. If one looks at their pre-pandemic designs, which were more colourful and playful, they created a very American sportswear wardrobe, while injecting a touch of modernity and elegance, close to European fashion.

As a direct coincidence of the hardship faced by the brand and the creative exhaustion of its founders, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez have been focusing on a more timeless and elegant style since 2020. It is obvious through the minimalist and architectural silhouettes in sync with the quiet luxury aesthetic, without giving in to other more fanciful trends.

Their arrival at the head of Loewe gives us hope of a new, perhaps freer, creative energy, inspired by the genius of their predecessor, Jonathan Anderson, from whom they will have to grasp the DNA. They will also have to assimilate the know-how of the Spanish house, while retaining their own touch… A major challenge that all professionals and enthusiasts in the field will be closely watching.