Sandra‘s Closet

The fashion world is moving fast and sometimes labels that have been around for many years become all of a sudden absolutely trendy. It takes the right designer to lead the brand to new heights just like Alessandro Michele did with Gucci. Now, there is another fashion house that you should include in your wish list: LOEWE. Founded in 1846, Loewe started life as a cooperative of leather artisans in Madrid, before German entrepreneur Enrique Loewe Roessberg took over the workshop and consolidated it under his name in 1872. The Spanish label introduced its first ready-to-wear collection in 1965, bringing fashion to the centre of the brand.

In 2013 Jonathan Anderson took over the helm at Loewe and transformed the Spanish house slowly but constantly into one of the most talked-about labels this season.

Raquel Zimmermann starred in Loewe’s S/S 2016 ad campaign.

Under Anderson’s creative direction, the label has had its logo and emblem rebranded by Parisian art duo M/M (Paris), Steven Meisel-lensed ad campaigns have been rolled out and the clothes and bags are quickly garnering must-have status among the style set. When it comes to taking a label steeped in heritage and making it relevant today, Anderson has the Midas touch.

A statement bag that you should get: Loewe‘s Joyce embellished leather shoulder bag.

A modern legacy: LOEWE Boutique Bilbao designed by architect Javier Carvajal, 1960.

An authority in leather goods for over 160 years, Loewe, under the creative vision of Anderson, continues to design classic handbags using cutting-edge techniques. With a keen interest in interiors and architecture, Javier Carvajal (the architect responsible for the modernist Loewe stores in the 1950s and 1960s) is another key inspiration.

The new must-have bag for the S/S 2017 season? Loewe‘s Puzzle leather shoulder bag.
For Anderson’s first bag style, the Puzzle, more than 40 fragments of super-soft leather have been sliced and repositioned.

«I set out to find a new way of building a bag, fundamentally questioning its structure. It was about deconstructing a conventional bag to create a flat object with a tri-dimensional function» – Jonathan Anderson.

I love it! It is definitely on my shopping list…

You can shop a great selection of LOEWE at NET-A-PORTER, LUISAVIAROMA, MATCHESFASHION and MYTHERESA.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Loewe

It is official, Alexander Wang is Balenciaga‘s new Creative Director and will replace Nicolas Ghesquière at the French fashion house, who officially leaves today, after 15 years at the helm.

Alexander Wang with me

Rumors had been out quite awhile that the American designer  would be the perfect choice for the PPR-owned fashion house Balenciaga, because Wang knows how to make edgy and groovy commercial. Congrats, Alexander, well-deserved! (If you are interested to read an interview, I did with Alexander Wang two years ago, please click here!)

Christopher Kane with me

Another one, editors were considering for the job, was Christopher Kane, who has just left his position at Versus to focus on his own line.

Gianni Versace Spa follows a new strategic repositioning of the Versus brand. Digital is the key word and under Donatella Versace’s creative leadership, there will be collaborations with young designers, stylists, and creatives from different walks of life, to develop capsule collections, co-branding projects, limited editions. Yesterday, the first designer to create a capsule collection for Versus has been announced: Jonathan Anderson, the designer behind the J.W. Anderson fashion label for men and women. The launch event is planned for March/April 2013 in New York.

Bruce Weber, 1996

For the capsule collection, Jonathan Anderson was particularly inspired by an image from a campaign shot by Bruce Weber with Donatella in 1996. “For me,” said Jonathan, “this iconic image says it all, that’s how I see Versus. It’s all about the relationship between a boy and a girl, a girl and a girl, a boy and a boy. Purity.”

The New York Times is reporting rumours that Nicolas Ghesquière‘s next move might be his own label at LVMH. It seems like this time , the designer carrousel is one where everyone turns out to be a winner.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Versus, Style, J.W. Anderson, © Wenn, © Sandra Bauknecht