Paris (AFP) – British designer Jonathan Anderson has left Spanish brand Loewe after more than a decade at the helm, owner LVMH announced Monday, with the 40-year-old tipped to take over at Dior. The move is part of a major reshuffling of top jobs at global fashion brands after a round of resignations and forced departures. The industry as a whole is facing increasingly tricky market conditions, with a slowdown in China and an escalating trade war causing concern.
“Under his direction, Loewe experienced exceptional growth and established itself as a pioneer in presenting a modern vision of luxury fashion and culture,” a statement about Anderson from Loewe said. Backed with LVMH investment, the Northern Ireland-born designer transformed the Spanish heritage brand since 2013 from a relatively understated luxury house into one of the most avant-garde and influential names in fashion. Its runway shows are now a meeting place for A-list cinema and music stars, from Timothee Chalamet to Pedro Almodovar and Tilda Swinton.
Anderson also created sparkling body-hugging outfits for Beyonce’s 2023 Renaissance tour and dressed Rihanna for her Superbowl performance the same year in a red ensemble that showed off her pregnancy bump. One of his most defining contributions at Loewe was the launch of the leather Puzzle bag in 2015, based on a geometric shape that was the brand’s first new bag in decades and became an instant top-seller. “Looking back, I’ve come to realise that a brand is not built on the first show, or even a first year of shows, it’s built slowly season upon season, year upon year, on what is right for a brand,” he wrote on Instagram.
– ‘Very best’ –
The designer has been repeatedly linked to LVMH-owned Dior, where creative director for menswear Kim Jones quit at the end of January and womenswear designer Maria Grazia Chiuri is seen as on the way out. One scenario is that Anderson might take over both sides of the business, with its growth of crucial financial and dynastic importance to LVMH owner Bernard Arnault. He placed his daughter Delphine in charge of Dior in February 2023.
Anderson trained at the London College of Fashion and began his career in Prada’s marketing department before launching his own brand, JW Anderson, in 2008. He had originally dreamed of becoming an actor and moved to the United States at 18 to enroll in a drama school.
“I have had the pleasure of working with some of the great artistic directors of recent times, and I consider Jonathan Anderson to be amongst the very best,” Sidney Toledano, an LVMH veteran who now heads the French Fashion Institute, said in the Loewe statement. Last Thursday, French luxury group Kering announced that Balenciaga creative director Demna would move to chief designer at fellow fashion label Gucci, whose sales have plummeted over the last year. He replaced Sabato de Sarno, whom Gucci let go in February after just two years on the job.
Other labels that are either bedding in new designers or looking for fresh talent include Chanel, Bottega Veneta, Carven, Celine, Fendi, Givenchy, Dries Van Noten, Tom Ford, and Martin Margiela.
© 2024 AFP
