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Teasing what we can expect from the upcoming Loewe menswear show, Luca Guadagnino and Jonathan Anderson continue their ongoing collaboration with a new short film
Since Jonathan Anderson took the reins at Loewe almost a decade ago, the designer’s clothing has only been one singular part of the narrative. A regular attendee at art galleries around the world, with close friends in cinema, a trustee at the V&A and judge at the Loewe Foundation’s Craft Prize, Anderson is cultivating a “cultural brand” extending beyond the realm of mere textile. Now, Anderson has joined forces with long-time collaborator and friend Luca Guadagnino with a new short film titled I Dreamt of Loewe, exemplifying the motley, craft-focused sentiment of the Spanish label, and teases what we can expect from the upcoming menswear collection.
Captured under the clinical white lights of New York’s David Zwirner gallery, and featuring energetic and vibrant sculptures by Austrian artist Franz West, the film traces a kaleidoscopic dream which finds a male protagonist laid naked on a sofa, waking up to find West’s imposing Echolalia (2010) works towering overhead. He watches as models, donning the upcoming Spring/Summer 2024 collection, interact with the off-balance and abstract pieces, striking uncanny poses and gazing into the camera lens in crystal-embellished sunglasses, as trance-like music throbs overhead. The small glimpse of the upcoming collection includes contrast-collar shirting, fluid, elongated legwear, denims, pastel knitwear and, obviously, some spectacular eyewear.
Guadagnino – who recently starred in a Loewe campaign alongside some of the director’s favoured stars – has worked with Anderson to design the costumes for his upcoming film Challengers, set to release in September this year. It was also announced late last year that Anderson will be costuming Guadagnino’s adaptation of William S Burroughs’ 1985 novel Queer, marking their second major film collaboration. “Clothing is theatre,” Anderson told AnOther in 2021, “and that’s what excites me about fashion – we are still uncomfortable about the idea of the eccentric.” Converging Anderson’s heady worlds of art, fashion and performance, the new Loewe film is an amuse-bouche to what’s bound to be an abundant and lively main course, which can be fully enjoyed during the upcoming Paris Fashion Week Men’s, on June 24.
