The artist Cosima von Bonin’s giant sculptural animals—a floppy-eared dog, a perky dolphin, googly-eyed clams—greeted us at Loewe today. They told you everything you need to know about Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez’s new Loewe. The American designers have come to play. Following last season’s colorful, inventive debut, their new fall collectsion was even more experimental.
Craft has always been fundamental to the former New Yorkers, as it is for the Spanish leather goods house-turned-luxury brand Loewe. Now, though, McCollough and Hernandez are thinking beyond just leather and giving their experiments a high-tech gloss. Up first: slip dresses 3-D printed and cast in latex, with each detail—from the lace edges to the bow in the center of the chest to the tiny pointelle dots—stamped in bas relief. Zip-front hooded coats were also made from latex, but these bobbed up and down the runway as smooth as water balloons.
Sticking with the water theme, sporty parkas that seemed to be made from inflatable rafts gave the proceedings a buoyancy both metaphorical and literal. No word on whether they’re actually seaworthy, but there were cheeky air pumps in the shape of lobster claws back at the studio. Tailored wool coats, for more landlubbing types, were accessorized with inflatable scarves, or their skirts were exaggerated with what could’ve been pool floaties. “For us, it was really about the joy of making,” McCollough said.
They also explored more traditional materials. The bell-shaped jackets they showed last season were redone in shaved and dyed brushed shearling; the wide-wale corduroys were shearling too. For evening, there were a pair of shaggily fringed halter dresses cut with enough slack that the models slipped their arms inside them, as if trying to keep warm. A couple of other party options were made from long loops of beads that picked up the delicate flower patterns of day shirts. They appeared to have pockets below the chest, where a woman might stash a lipstick or her keys.
Today, McCollough and Hernandez presented the first menswear of their career. This they handled with aplomb, ably translating their ideas across genders, save maybe for the guys’ loose-fit tights. Of particular interest was a parka in what looked like plain and simple cotton in a gorgeous shade of ultramarine. As they dig in here and prepare for their first full men’s shoe in June, compressing the runway-to-real-way divide will be paramount. What impressed here is just how quickly they’re establishing their own Loewe language.
