March 5, 2022 |
If you thought last season’s Loewe show was a bit mad, then you’re in for an eyeful. “Fashion that entices a reaction,” is how Jonathan Anderson chose to describe his latest collection. Which translates to clothes that turn on, repulse, and confuse — often within a single look.
While Loewe remains a house dedicated to craft of the highest standard, the surrealist design codes which have shaped its past men’s and women’s collections have reached a nonsensical-yet-brilliant combustion. “[This collection’s] about tension for me,” said Anderson post-show, standing amongst the giant, squishy, Anthea Hamilton pumpkins which littered the set. “In a weird way, [SS22] was an optimistic show. This is about unknowingness.”
Upon a glance, you might not understand why a pair of red stilettos came lodged inside a bodycon frock. Or why drawstring bags became sneakers. Or those two dresses shaped like actual cars. They’re not the easiest clothes to wrap your head around. But like Loewe’s intermingling with the art world, it’s the kink integral to Anderson’s handwriting that makes his collections so intriguing.
See the opening procession of sculpted minidresses, for instance. Fashioned from leather, they came moulded as if trapped in a gust of wind. Soon followed bustiers that were shaped like puckered-up lips, and balloons (lots of ‘em). Either figuratively — impressive bombers that came puffed up and circular — or the actual kind, created from latex and lodged between shoes and bandage-like dresses, as well as forming tiny bras worn over trompe-l’oeil prints (with their knots disguised as an extra set of nipples).
All these strange elements, combined and marinated in the power of subversion, made you want to reach out and grab these pieces to understand their weirdness for yourself. Because above all else, these clothes trigger feeling. Isn’t that what all good fashion should do?
Photography by Jason Lloyd-Evans.
