“I think we live in a paradise. This is a Garden of Eden. Really. It is. It might be the only paradise we’ll ever know. And it’s just so beautiful. And you feel you want to paint it.” — Albert York
American artist Albert York was so awe-stricken by the beauty of the world around him that he felt compelled to paint it. From trees in fields to single flowers, and vases, subject were, by all accounts, ordinary objects, but through his work, we see them from a new perspective, the light that sparked York’s bewilderment. In all their arresting humility, these art pieces lined the green walls of Loewe’s Fall/Winter 2024. For this collection, Jonathan Anderson was inspired by York’s work and the outlook on life imbued in his strokes.
Having discovered that Jackie ‘O’ Kennedy was a collector of York’s work, though, Anderson found more questions to fuel his creativity—namely around provenance and value and of class and wealth. This gave way to intricate beading that mimicked caviar and some inspired coats reminiscent of Eton College‘s famed morning coats. The discontinued tradition wear was found on the runway, cut perfectly and paired with billowy balloon trsouers printed with radishes and florals.
Distortions made viewers double-taking constantly. Pinstripe constructed of beadwork, prints evoking the illusions of material—ostrich leather as a trompe l’oeil dresses and tartan painted on chiffon—and coat collars adorned with what looked like fur, but was actually wood carvings.
Looking at the shifts in trends and luxury shopping, the bougie interiors of the 1920s were also a focus, particularly pieces like ‘Chippendale’ chairs that were once the covet of the upper echelon and hold varied sentiments now.
“Why do we buy things, and why do those things have meaning?” Anderson asked backstage. “It’s the idea of a Chippendale chair, of a commission of those chairs, and the idea of an outsider looking into a world [of the original maker] that we don’t experience.”
With this collection, Anderson prompts us to consider not just the value of luxury but how this has evolved and where it’s going. By taking something well-known and turning it on its head, Anderson’s work can draw many parallels to York’s, particularly in his ornate treatment of everyday pieces and casualisation of the formal. Through his craft, perception is changed, and we’re shown what is actually possible with everything that is already around us. It’s this proclivity towards the absurd, clothes that tickles the brain and the eye that makes him one of the most compelling designers of our generation.
