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Jonathan Anderson tells the story of Loewe 2021 spring-summer menswear
In order to disclose Loewe’s new menswear collection, artistic director Jonathan Anderson explains the ideas that led to the creation of his innovative designs in a video. One can notice his great interest for geometric forms, radical shapes, as well as his celebration of craft through the contemporary use of ancestral skills.
By Matthieu Jacquet.
Following the release of the new collections from his label JW Anderson, Jonathan Anderson returns a few weeks later to present his new men’s collection for Loewe. Digital Fashion Week obliges, the artistic director chooses once again to introduce his new pieces as a mysterious gift within a short video shot in a chiaroscuro setting : in a box stamped Loewe, a metaphor for the universally shared feeling of confinement in recent months, are contained illustrated cardboard sheets that together pop-up the universe of the house’s spring-summer 2021 collection. Meanwhile, the Northern Irish designer elaborates on the biases of his new creations.
“For this menswear collection, my approach was to choose a technique or an idea and make a complete silhouette,” explains Jonathan Anderson. Volume and abstract geometric forms seem to be his new key words here : perfect circles are cut out of gabardine then superimposed on a button cape or define the shape of the edges of a coat, a lozenge is drawn on the back of a trench coat puffed up by pleating effect, trapezoids make up the sleeves of a ribbed jumpsuit that seems to pay homage to Issey Miyake’s creations… Craftsmanship, at the heart of Loewe’s identity, has taken on a contemporary role at a time when confinement has sparked a renewed interest in domestic skills among many individuals. Also, if, as is often the case, several pieces feature knitting, a very structured top and an amusing pineapple-shaped bag bear witness to a great mastery of basketwork, which notably allows baskets to be woven out of vegetable fibres, while shibari dyeing creates on large tunics and long shirts spots of colour that spread over the fine fabric, where they create impacts of light and depth.
