The traditional art of paper folding has been interpreted by Loewe to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the brand’s arrival in Japan.
Using Loewe’s signature material, the napa leather, the Origami bag is the Spanish brand’s homage to Japanese craftsmanship and expertise.
Sophisticated engineering and tradition combine again this season with functional, modern design. The Origami bag has inspired two of this season’s bags from the Skin collection: the Pillow bag and the Cubo bag. When collapsed, all these bags take up less space, making them easy to store or travel with.
The Origami folding bag comes back for the Spring 2014 in new colors: light blue, raspberry, black, stone, light pink, brandy and red.
Under the creative direction of Jonathan Anderson, craft, innovation and an unparalleled knowledge of leather—the values at the heart of Loewe since 1846—are being reconfigured with an injection of modernity and cultural awareness.
Anderson was born in Northern Ireland in 1984 and studied at the London College of Fashion. He has emerged as one of the leading designers of his generation, earning both critical acclaim and commercial success with the collections he designs for his own label, J.W. Anderson.
Under Anderson’s helm, Loewe embarks on a timely interpretation of women’s wear, men’s wear, accessories and lifestyle items, becoming the first brand of its kind to acknowledge that, today, fashion is part of the cultural landscape—and the first luxury house to actively incorporate the notion that there is nothing more exclusive than culture.
Loewe is a brand that focuses on what is both useful and extraordinary, designed with a realistic approach and an uncompromising emphasis on functionality. It’s an edit of meaningful items for different areas of life, as necessary as they are desirable, with superior manufacturing, pure form and high grade, honest use of material.
Loewe creates tactile, streamlined bags, exposing the natural qualities of leather. There are new takes on house classics, such as the Amazona and Flamenco bags, highlighting their softness and utility.
There’s a crinkled leather trench coat with a perfected silhouette, as well as a minimalist, ultra-light interpretation of the classic biker jacket; the best cashmere jumper conceivable, with tailored shirt that’s built to last; an essential blanket, as well as an iconic wood-and-leather chair pulled from the Loewe archives and reedited in striking new color combinations.
To represent this world, Michael Amzalag and Mathias Augustyniak, the art and design duo of M/M (Paris), have created the new graphic identity for the brand. Logotype is inspired by German-born British typographer Berthold Wolpe, hinting at the German roots of Enrique Loewe Roessberg, who established the house by giving his name to a cooperative of leather craftsmen from Madrid.
The famous anagram, originally designed in 1970 by Spanish painter Vicente Vela, has been pared down to unearth its factual origin as a branding iron used to mark cattle and leather. Packagings have also been redesigned as volumes reminiscent of library tomes, in the new smokey-white Humo color.
Other cornerstones of the redefined new phase of the 168-year-old Spanish house is the men’s wear presentation in Paris, a new advertising campaign featuring works by Steven Meisel, as well as art-driven store concepts in key cities.
Loewe is exclusively available at Rustan’s Shangri-La.