Loewe (fashion brand) explained

Loewe (fashion brand) should not be confused with Loewe (electronics).

LOEWE
Type:Subsidiary (SA)
Founder:Enrique Loewe y Roessberg
Key People:Jonathan Anderson
(Creative Director)
Pascale Lepoivre
(CEO)
Industry:Apparel, accessories
Products:Clothing, cosmetics, fashion accessories, jewelry, perfumes, watches
Revenue: US$341.1 million (2018)[1]
Net Income: US$13 million (2018)
Num Employees: 1,300 (2018)[2]
Parent:LVMH
Location City:Madrid
Location Country:Spain

Loewe (pronounced as /es/, pronounced as /de/; stylized as LOEWE) is a Spanish luxury fashion house specialising in leather goods, clothing, perfumes and other fashion accessories. Founded in 1846 in Madrid, Loewe is part of LVMH since 1996, and is the oldest luxury fashion house of the holding.[3]

The company was established in Madrid in 1846 by a group of Spanish leather craftsmen, and the brand was created in 1876 when Enrique Loewe joined the group. By the early 20th Century, many notable people took great interest in Loewe and Queen Victoria Eugenie became a regular customer. In 1905, Alfonso XIII granted them the Royal Warrant of Appointment and thus Loewe became Purveyor of the Royal Household of Spain.[4] The company quickly grew in popularity and was promoted by figures such as Ernest Hemingway, Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich and Sophia Loren amongst others.[5]

History

Loewe was founded in 1846 in Madrid by a group of Spanish leather craftsmen, and the brand originated in 1876 when Enrique Loewe y Roessberg, a German merchant of Hessian origin, joined the group.[6] In 1905, Alfonso XIII granted Enrique Loewe y Hilton, a descendant of the original brand founder, the title of Purveyor to the Royal Court. His wife, Queen Victoria Eugenie, frequently visited the store on Príncipe de Madrid street.[7]

By the 1970s, Loewe was expanding into perfumes and fashion with the creation of the Loewe anagram logo, designed by Spanish painter Vicente Vela. Giorgio Armani and Laura Biagiotti subsequently designed Loewe's womenswear collections.[8]

In 1986, LVMH bought the rights to Loewe's international distribution.[8] It acquired Loewe completely in 1996. That year, Loewe had sales of about $200 million, among the smallest of LVMH's companies; ready-to-wear was responsible for 10 percent of that total.[9] By 1997, Narciso Rodriguez joined the company as new creative director[10] and the brand had its first Paris runway presentation at LVMH headquarters in the fall/winter 1998 season.[11] Both José Enrique Oña Selfa (2000–2007)[8] and Stuart Vevers (2008–2013)[12] [13] followed. During Vever's tenure, Loewe scaled back fashion to concentrate on handbags, leather apparel and a substantial gift business based on leather picture frames and leather boxes.[14]

Jonathan Anderson became Loewe's creative director in 2013.[15] His first ready-to-wear collections for Loewe were presented in 2014.[16]

Since 2014, Loewe's headquarters – including the design team, which had previously been based in Madrid – has been located on Place Saint-Sulpice in Paris.[17] The company remains based in Spain. Manufacture, particularly of leather goods, takes place in Barcelona and Getafe, near Madrid.[18]

Members of the Spanish royal family, including Queen Sofía and Queen Letizia, have been seen several times wearing Loewe handbags.[19]

In 2019 lawsuit brought to the Tribunal de commerce de Paris, Loewe invoked a non-compete case related to its employment of designer Bruno Sialelli who became artistic director at Lanvin at a time when he was still bound by commitments linked to his prior position.[20] As part of an out-of-court settlement in 2020, Loewe and Lanvin reached an agreement.[21]

Following high-profile collaborations, including designing several custom performance looks for American singer Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour and appointing South Korean rapper Taeyong as a brand ambassador, Loewe topped the Lyst's Hottest Brand Index for the first time in the second quarter of 2023,[22] a position previously held by Prada.[23]

Locations

Loewe stores are located worldwide. In 2014, Loewe's then-143 stores were concentrated mainly in Spain and Japan, which respectively had 37 and 27 locations.[24] The first London shop opened in 1963,[8] on Mayfair's Mount Street.[25]  

Loewe opened its first American store in New York, a three-story shop at the Trump Tower,[26] in 1983;[27] it closed 1993.[9] Today, the company has four stores in the US: Miami's Design District (since 2016),[14] [28] the Wynn in Las Vegas (since 2018), New York (since 2019),[29] and Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles (since 2022).[30]

In 2016, Loewe opened Casa Loewe Madrid, the brand's first flagship in Madrid and – with 10750square feet – its largest store in the world. It is located in the ground floor of the company's head office in a landmark 19th-century building.[31] In 2019, Loewe outgrew its London store in Mount Street and opened Casa Loewe at 41-42 New Bond Street.[32]

Loewe Foundation

In 1988, Enrique Loewe y Lynch, great-grandchild of the firm's creator, founded the Loewe Foundation, a private cultural foundation that supports cultural events and exhibitions.[33] Today, his daughter Sheila Loewe is the President of the foundation supporting design and craftsmanship.[34] The foundation received a Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts from the Spanish government in 2002.[35]

Following an initiative of designer Jonathan Anderson, the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize was established in 2017.[36]

Established in 2021, the Loewe Foundation / Studio Voltaire Award international artist residency comes with a year-long studio space at Studio Voltaire, a £25,000 ($32,522) stipend for accommodations and living costs, a production and travel budget, and a professional development program. Recipients have since included Beatrix Pang (2022) and Prajakta Potnis (2024).[37]

Campaigns

Loewe's global brand ambassadors have included Penélope Cruz (2013–2015),[38] Josh O'Connor (since 2017),[39] Tang Wei (since 2022), South Korean girl group Nmixx (since 2022),[40] Taylor Russell (since 2022),[41] Taeyong (since 2023),[42] [43] Yang Mi (since 2023),[44] [45] Jamie Dornan (since 2024),[46] [47] [48] Lim Ji-Yeon (since 2024)[49] and Wang Yibo (since 2024).[50] Other celebrities who have featured in the brand's advertisement campaigns include Gisele Bündchen (2017),[51] Tracee Ellis Ross (2021),[52] Gillian Anderson (2021),[53] Greta Lee (2023)[54] and Maggie Smith (2023)[55] and Kit Connor (2024).[56]

During Stuart Vevers's tenure, most Loewe advertising campaigns were shot by Mert Alaş and Marcus Piggott.[57] For his first Loewe ad campaigns, Jonathan Anderson worked with Steven Meisel;[58] he has since worked with Tyler Mitchell (2020) and Juergen Teller (since 2021).[59] [60]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Loewe ingresa 236 millones en 2018 y paga un dividendo de 16 millones a LVMH (Conversion to dollars based on currency exchange the 31st December 2018). 3 September 2019. Expansión. 2020-01-21. 11 September 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220911221923/https://www.expansion.com/empresas/distribucion/2019/09/03/5d6d74c0468aebac418b4742.html. live.
  2. Web site: Loewe Careers. Loewe Official Site. 2020-01-21. 28 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220728123137/https://www.loewe.com/eur/en/loewe_careers. live.
  3. Web site: Jonathan Anderson: "Fashion is a competition". 28 September 2018. Vogue. 2020-01-21. 14 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191214185455/https://www.voguebusiness.com/companies/loewe-jonathan-anderson-interview. live.
  4. Melissa Magsaysay (9 September 2011), Luxury leather label Loewe lands in L.A. Los Angeles Times.
  5. Web site: Loewe Handbags: Fiercely Spanish It-Bags. 24 June 2016. The Italist. 2020-01-23. 27 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200627234412/https://www.italist.com/magazine/loewe-handbags/. live.
  6. Web site: The Art of Craft: A History of Loewe. 15 March 2019. Heroine. 2020-01-21. 26 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200626121125/https://www.heroine.com/the-editorial/history-of-loewe. live.
  7. Web site: Modapedia: Loewe. Vogue. 2020-01-21. 19 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191219195244/https://www.vogue.es/moda/modapedia/marcas/loewe/143. live.
  8. Jamie Huckbody (17 October 2002), The king of leather The Independent.
  9. Constance C.R. White (17 June 1997), Rodriguez Joins Loewe New York Times.
  10. [Suzy Menkes]
  11. Miles Socha (26 September 2014), Narciso Rodriguez: Brining N.Y. Smarts to LVMH’s Loewe Women's Wear Daily.
  12. https://www.lvmh.com/news-documents/press-releases/stuart-vevers-named-creative-director-of-loewe/ Stuart Vevers named Creative Director of Loewe
  13. Eric Wilson (24 June 2013), Vevers Lands Top Spot at Coach New York Times.
  14. Miles Socha (26 September 2014), Jonathan Anderson Preps Loewe for Next Chapter Women's Wear Daily.
  15. Web site: J.W. Anderson Biography. 21 August 2013. Vogue. 16 November 2016. 21 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200821020256/https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/jw-anderson-biography. live.
  16. Web site: La cuarta campaña de Loewe o cómo la firma ha revolucionado la publicidad en la moda. 30 September 2015. Vogue España. 16 November 2016. 25 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200625103145/https://www.vogue.es/moda/tendencias/articulos/loewe-campanas-jonathan-anderson-steven-meisel/23727. live.
  17. Matthew Schneier (25 June 2014), A Provocateur Prepares to Show His Quiet Side New York Times.
  18. Miles Johnson (29 November 2012), Domestic production: Profitability begins at home as companies tap rich skill base Financial Times.
  19. Web site: March 22, 2019 . Paolo . Chua . Loewe, the Brand Beloved by Spanish Royals, Opens a Store in Manila . 2022-03-03 . Esquiremag.ph . 12 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221012180748/https://www.esquiremag.ph/the-good-life/what-she-wants/loewe-manila-store-a00208-20190322 . live .
  20. https://wwd.com/feature/paris-court-sets-hearing-for-lanvin-lvmh-non-compete-case-1203100550/ Paris Court Sets Hearing for Lanvin, LVMH Non-compete Case
  21. Mimosa Spencer (6 February 2020), EXCLUSIVE: Loewe, Lanvin Reach Agreement in Non-compete Case Women's Wear Daily.
  22. Web site: Hall . Amalissa . Loewe is officially the hottest brand in the second quarter of 2023, according to the Lyst Index . 2023-07-24 . Tatler Asia . en.
  23. Web site: Tan . Azrin . 2023-07-23 . Loewe is crowned the hottest brand in the world according to Lyst . 2023-07-24 . Vogue Singapore . en-US.
  24. Miles Socha (26 September 2014), Jonathan Anderson Preps Loewe for Next Chapter  Women's Wear Daily.
  25. Jo Ellison (26 April 2019), Loewe, luxury and the enduring allure of London’s Bond Street Financial Times.
  26. Anne-Marie Schiro (7 February 1983), A New Wave of Boutiques Rolls in From Europe New York Times.
  27. Bernadine Morris (21 September 1983), Loewe Leather Arrives New York Times.
  28. Tilly Macalister-Smith (3 December 2015), Loewe opens new store-cum-gallery in Miami’s Design District Wallpaper.
  29. Katherine Bernard (19 December 2019), Loewe Opens a Store New York Times.
  30. Booth Moore (16 November 2022), EXCLUSIVE: Loewe’s First L.A. Store Is Filled With Sun, Ceramics and a Bust of Justin Bieber Women's Wear Daily.
  31. Miles Socha (17 November 2016), ‘Think Loewe,’ Jonathan Anderson Tells Spain Women's Wear Daily.
  32. Web site: 2019-04-25 . Jonathan Anderson's Casa Loewe Feels Like The Home Of A Fabulous Collector . 2022-03-03 . British Vogue . en-GB . 8 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220808194149/https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/loewe-london-store . live .
  33. Web site: Loewe Foundation ¡Madrid!. 22 September 2016. Madrid Official Tourism Website. 16 November 2016.
  34. Web site: Loewe Foundation, Madrid, Spain . 2022-03-03 . Google Arts & Culture . en . 11 September 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220911030331/https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/fundacion-loewe . live .
  35. Web site: El Inaem renueva el convenio con la Fundación Loewe para el patrocinio de la Compañía Nacional de Danza. 27 April 2016. Gobierno de España, Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte. 16 November 2016. 15 November 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171115082944/http://www.mecd.gob.es/prensa-mecd/actualidad/2016/04/20160427-loewe.html. live.
  36. Caroline Roux (12 July 2019), Loewe Foundation Craft Prize showcases contemporary innovation Financial Times.
  37. Francesca Aton (18 July 2024), Indian Artist Prajakta Potnis Receives the 2024 Loewe Foundation / Studio Voltaire Award ARTnews.
  38. Miles Socha (8 January 2013), Penélope Cruz Fronts for Loewe Campaign Women's Wear Daily.
  39. Cal Morris (13 December 2017), God’s Own Country star Josh O’Connor is the new face of Loewe menswear  Hero.
  40. Web site: K-Pop Girl Group NMIXX Are Loewe's New Ambassadors. Teen Vogue. Pawa. Anjana. September 30, 2022. September 30, 2022.
  41. Miles Socha (2 November 2022), Loewe Names Taylor Russell a Global Ambassador Women's Wear Daily.
  42. Web site: Socha . Miles . EXCLUSIVE: Loewe Adds K-Pop Sensation Taeyong as Global Ambassador . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230620083414/https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/loewe-taeyong-kpop-nct-ambassador-1235690499/ . June 20, 2023 . 20 June 2023 . . WWD.
  43. Web site: Loewe . TAEYONG joins the LOEWE family . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230620083413/https://www.loewe.com/int/en/taeyong-x-loewe/loewe-taeyong.html . June 20, 2023 . 20 June 2023 . Loewe.
  44. Web site: Loewe appoints Yang Mi as global brand ambassador . 3 October 2023 . Fashion Network.
  45. Web site: Yang Mi Is Loewe’s Newest Global Ambassador . 3 October 2023 . WWD.
  46. Web site: Jamie Dornan devient ambassadeur mondial de la marque Loewe . 11 January 2024 . BFMTV.
  47. Web site: Actor Jamie Dornan is Loewe’s New Global Brand Ambassador . 11 January 2024 . L'Officiel USA.
  48. Web site: Loewe names Jamie Dornan as its new brand ambassador . 11 January 2024 . Fashion Network.
  49. Web site: Lim Ji-Yeon Joins LOEWE as New Brand Ambassador . 7 February 2024 . Dscene.
  50. Web site: Zhang . Tianwei . 2024-06-21 . EXCLUSIVE: Wang Yibo Named Loewe Global Brand Ambassador . 2024-07-10 . WWD . en-US.
  51. Robert Williams (1 March 2017), Loewe Taps Gisele Bündchen for Fall Campaign Women's Wear Daily.
  52. Miles Socha (28 September 2021), Gillian Anderson Wears an Eye Mask in Loewe Campaign Women's Wear Daily.
  53. Miles Socha (28 September 2021), Gillian Anderson Wears an Eye Mask in Loewe Campaign Women's Wear Daily.
  54. Kristopher Fraser (18 September 2023), Greta Lee Features in Loewe’s ‘Botanical Rainbow’ Perfume Campaign Women's Wear Daily.
  55. Ellie Violet Bramley and Lauren Cochrane (27 October 2023), Loewe and behold: how older models are casting a spell on fashion The Guardian.
  56. Web site: New brand ambassadors for Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Loewe, Kith, Guess Jeans . 25 June 2024 . Fashionista.
  57. Rebecca Cope (12 November 2012), Penélope Cruz is the new face of Loewe Harper's Bazaar.
  58. Nancy Hass (19 August 2019), The Man Turning European Fashion Into Something Raw and Real  T: The New York Times Style Magazine.
  59. Miles Socha (28 September 2021), Gillian Anderson Wears an Eye Mask in Loewe Campaign Women's Wear Daily.
  60. https://www.interviewmagazine.com/fashion/josh-oconnor-models-a-sexy-oyster-shirt-in-loewe-pre-fall-22-campaign Josh O’Connor Models a Sexy Oyster: Shirt in the Loewe Pre-Fall 22 Campaign

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