LOEWE
TypeSubsidiary (SA)
IndustryApparel, accessories
Founded1846 (1846)
FounderEnrique Loewe y Roessberg
Headquarters
Madrid
,
Spain
Key people
Jonathan Anderson
(Creative Director)
Pascale Lepoivre
(CEO)
ProductsClothing, cosmetics, fashion accessories, jewelry, perfumes, watches
RevenueIncrease US$341.1 million (2018)[1]
Increase US$13 million (2018)[1]
Number of employees
Increase 1,300 (2018)[2]
ParentLVMH
Websitewww.loewe.com

Loewe (/ˈloʊɛv/, Spanish: [loˈeβe])[3] (stylized as LOEWE) is a Spanish luxury fashion house specialising in leather goods, clothing, perfumes and other fashion accessories. Founded in 1846, Loewe is LVMH's oldest luxury fashion house.[4]

The company was established in 1846 when a group of Spanish leather craftsmen in Madrid were joined by Enrique Loewe, a merchant of Hessian origin. 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.[5] 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.[6]

History

A Loewe boutique in Madrid, 1905

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 craftsman, joined the group.[7]

King Alfonso XIII of Spain granted Enrique Loewe y Hinton, 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.[8]

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.[9]

In 1986, LVMH bought the rights to Loewe's international distribution.[9] 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.[10] By 1997, Narciso Rodriguez joined the company as new creative director[11] and the brand had its first Paris runway presentation at LVMH headquarters in the fall/winter 1998 season.[12] Both José Enrique Oña Selfa (2000-2007)[9] and Stuart Vevers (2008-2013)[13][14] 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.[15]

Jonathan Anderson became Loewe's creative director in 2013.[16] His first ready-to-wear collections for Loewe were presented in 2014. He has also been deploying a series of publicity campaigns by Steven Meisel and Damien Ropero for the stillife.[17]

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.[18] The company remains based in Spain. Manufacture, particularly of leather goods, takes place in Barcelona and Getafe, near Madrid.[19]

Loewe in Osaka, Japan

Members of the Spanish royal family, including Queen Sofía and Queen Letizia, have been seen several times wearing Loewe handbags.[20]

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,[21] a position previously held by Prada.[22]

Loewe store in Hong Kong

Locations

Loewe stores are located worldwide. In 2014, Loewe's 143 stores were concentrated mainly in Spain and Japan, which respectively had 37 and 27 locations.[23] The first London shop opened in 1963,[9] on Mayfair's Mount Street.[24] 

Loewe opened its first American store in New York, a three-story shop at the Trump Tower,[25] in 1983;[26] it closed 1993.[10] Today, the company has four stores in the US, located in Miami's Design District (since 2016),[15][27] at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas (since 2018), in New York (since 2019)[28] and on Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles (since 2022).[29]

In 2016, Loewe opened Casa Loewe Madrid, the brand's first flagship in Madrid and – with 10,750 square feet (999 square metres) – 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.[30] In 2019, Loewe outgrew its London store in Mount Street and opened Casa Loewe at 41-42 New Bond Street.[31]

A leather handbag of Loewe in the Times Square store

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.[32] Today, his daughter Sheila Loewe is the President of the foundation supporting design and craftsmanship.[33] The foundation received a gold medal for Merit in the Fine Arts from the Spanish government in 2002.[34] Following an initiative of designer Jonathan Anderson, the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize was established in 2017.[35]

Campaigns

Loewe's global brand ambassadors are Josh O'Connor (since 2017),[36] Tang Wei (since 2022), South Korean girl group Nmixx (since 2022),[37] Taylor Russell (since 2022),[38] and K-Pop star Taeyong from NCT and SuperM (since 2023),[39][40] as well as Yang Mi, the Chinese actress and singer (since 2023).[41][42]

For his first Loewe ad campaigns, Jonathan Anderson worked with Steven Meisel;[43] he has since worked with Tyler Mitchell (2020) and Juergen Teller (since 2021).[44][45]

In 2024, Jamie Dornan became the global brand ambassador of Loewe.[46][47][48]

Branding evolution

References

  1. 1 2 "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)". Expansión. 3 September 2019. Archived from the original on 11 September 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  2. ↑ "Loewe Careers". Loewe Official Site. Archived from the original on 28 July 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  3. ↑ Forvo Team. "Loewe pronunciation: How to pronounce LOEWE in Spanish, German". Archived from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  4. ↑ "Jonathan Anderson: "Fashion is a competition"". Vogue. 28 September 2018. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  5. ↑ Melissa Magsaysay (9 September 2011), Luxury leather label Loewe lands in L.A. Archived 13 February 2023 at the Wayback Machine Los Angeles Times.
  6. ↑ "Loewe Handbags: Fiercely Spanish It-Bags". The Italist. 24 June 2016. Archived from the original on 27 June 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  7. ↑ "The Art of Craft: A History of Loewe". Heroine. 15 March 2019. Archived from the original on 26 June 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  8. ↑ "Modapedia: Loewe". Vogue. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Jamie Huckbody (17 October 2002), The king of leather Archived 26 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine The Independent.
  10. 1 2 Constance C.R. White (17 June 1997), Rodriguez Joins Loewe Archived 8 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine New York Times.
  11. ↑ Suzy Menkes (17 June 1997), In Fashion Chess, More New Moves Archived 26 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine International Herald Tribune.
  12. ↑ Miles Socha (26 September 2014), Narciso Rodriguez: Brining N.Y. Smarts to LVMH’s Loewe Archived 15 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine Women's Wear Daily.
  13. ↑ Stuart Vevers named Creative Director of Loewe Archived 15 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine LVMH, press release of 26 July 2007.
  14. ↑ Eric Wilson (24 June 2013), Vevers Lands Top Spot at Coach Archived 23 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine New York Times.
  15. 1 2 Miles Socha (26 September 2014), Jonathan Anderson Preps Loewe for Next Chapter Archived 15 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine Women's Wear Daily.
  16. ↑ "J.W. Anderson Biography". Vogue. 21 August 2013. Archived from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  17. ↑ "La cuarta campaña de Loewe o cómo la firma ha revolucionado la publicidad en la moda". Vogue España. 30 September 2015. Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  18. ↑ Matthew Schneier (25 June 2014), A Provocateur Prepares to Show His Quiet Side Archived 26 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine New York Times.
  19. ↑ Miles Johnson (29 November 2012), Domestic production: Profitability begins at home as companies tap rich skill base Archived 27 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine Financial Times.
  20. ↑ Chua, Paolo (22 March 2019). "Loewe, the Brand Beloved by Spanish Royals, Opens a Store in Manila". Esquiremag.ph. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  21. ↑ Hall, Amalissa. "Loewe is officially the hottest brand in the second quarter of 2023, according to the Lyst Index". Tatler Asia. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  22. ↑ Tan, Azrin (23 July 2023). "Loewe is crowned the hottest brand in the world according to Lyst". Vogue Singapore. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  23. ↑ Miles Socha (26 September 2014), Jonathan Anderson Preps Loewe for Next Chapter Archived 15 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine Women's Wear Daily.
  24. ↑ Jo Ellison (26 April 2019), Loewe, luxury and the enduring allure of London’s Bond Street Archived 31 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine Financial Times.
  25. ↑ Anne-Marie Schiro (7 February 1983), A New Wave of Boutiques Rolls in From Europe Archived 24 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine New York Times.
  26. ↑ Bernadine Morris (21 September 1983), Loewe Leather Arrives Archived 5 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine New York Times.
  27. ↑ Tilly Macalister-Smith (3 December 2015), Loewe opens new store-cum-gallery in Miami’s Design District Archived 15 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine Wallpaper.
  28. ↑ Katherine Bernard (19 December 2019), Loewe Opens a Store Archived 15 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine New York Times.
  29. ↑ Booth Moore (16 November 2022), EXCLUSIVE: Loewe’s First L.A. Store Is Filled With Sun, Ceramics and a Bust of Justin Bieber Archived 15 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine Women's Wear Daily.
  30. ↑ Miles Socha (17 November 2016), ‘Think Loewe,’ Jonathan Anderson Tells Spain Archived 5 February 2023 at the Wayback Machine Women's Wear Daily.
  31. ↑ "Jonathan Anderson's Casa Loewe Feels Like The Home Of A Fabulous Collector". British Vogue. 25 April 2019. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  32. ↑ "Loewe Foundation ¡Madrid!". Madrid Official Tourism Website. 22 September 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  33. ↑ "Loewe Foundation, Madrid, Spain". Google Arts & Culture. Archived from the original on 11 September 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  34. ↑ "El Inaem renueva el convenio con la Fundación Loewe para el patrocinio de la Compañía Nacional de Danza". Gobierno de España, Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte. 27 April 2016. Archived from the original on 15 November 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  35. ↑ Caroline Roux (12 July 2019), Loewe Foundation Craft Prize showcases contemporary innovation Archived 25 September 2022 at the Wayback Machine Financial Times.
  36. ↑ Cal Morris (13 December 2017), God’s Own Country star Josh O’Connor is the new face of Loewe menswear Archived 15 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine Hero.
  37. ↑ Pawa, Anjana (30 September 2022). "K-Pop Girl Group NMIXX Are Loewe's New Ambassadors". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  38. ↑ Miles Socha (2 November 2022), Loewe Names Taylor Russell a Global Ambassador Archived 15 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine Women's Wear Daily.
  39. ↑ Socha, Miles. "EXCLUSIVE: Loewe Adds K-Pop Sensation Taeyong as Global Ambassador". WWD. WWD. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  40. ↑ Loewe. "TAEYONG joins the LOEWE family". Loewe. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  41. ↑ "Loewe appoints Yang Mi as global brand ambassador". Fashion Network. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  42. ↑ "Yang Mi Is Loewe's Newest Global Ambassador". WWD. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  43. ↑ Nancy Hass (19 August 2019), The Man Turning European Fashion Into Something Raw and Real Archived 13 February 2023 at the Wayback Machine T: The New York Times Style Magazine.
  44. ↑ Miles Socha (28 September 2021), Gillian Anderson Wears an Eye Mask in Loewe Campaign Archived 13 February 2023 at the Wayback Machine Women's Wear Daily.
  45. ↑ Josh O’Connor Models a Sexy Oyster: Shirt in the Loewe Pre-Fall 22 Campaign Archived 13 February 2023 at the Wayback Machine Interview, 23 May 2022.
  46. ↑ "Jamie Dornan devient ambassadeur mondial de la marque Loewe". BFMTV. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  47. ↑ "Actor Jamie Dornan is Loewe's New Global Brand Ambassador". L'Officiel USA. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  48. ↑ "Loewe names Jamie Dornan as its new brand ambassador". Fashion Network. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
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