Loewe's primordial surrealism

Primordial. Raw. Designed to tell the origin of man, the chaos of genesis, the primordial Big Bang. Loewe's collection explores the energy that gave rise to everything. «I liked the idea of looking at the birth of man, at the concept of evolution», Jonathan Anderson, creative director at Lvmh, explained. The room is dominated by sculptures of two sculptures, Anthea Hamilton's giant pumpkins, made of leather. They are a sort of disturbing element that emerges from the ground, introducing the concept of objects that burst onto the scene, the fil rouge of the whole collection. Like the décolleté tucked under the dresses, deforming the silhouette. Like the shapes of cars floating on the bottom of the dresses or the metal roses tucked into the necklines. Objects trapped by a tension that is about to explode, like that of the balloons squeezed by the fabric and tucked into the gowns.

«I have been obsessed with balloons this season», the designer added, «something that can blow up at any moment and that never lasts forever». Intricate fabrications pushing silhouettes to the extreme. Short dresses of sculpted leather, felt shaped bodices, dresses draped with lip-shaped busts or balloon bras characterizing the outfits worn with aerodynamic sandals traversed by safety belts. Latex tank tops worn with undone fur skirts. Surrealist hands and trompe l'oeil prints marking draped fabrics. Crystal petticoat dresses rising on metal cages. Like sculptures, fragile and precious.

Judgment. Surrealism, primitive energy, push on silhouettes and material experimentation. Jonathan Anderson takes his work on Loewe to the extreme, continuing a process that began a few seasons ago. The overall effect is so alienating as to conquer. Far from the obvious. A reflection on the present that the designer translated in a very personal way. (All rights reserved)