When news of Loewe’s new Paula’s Ibiza collection landed in my inbox, a letter from Jonathan Anderson was plastered across the release. It read:
This simple gesture struck me. It was an honest account of how the brand acknowledged the timing of its new release, although unfortunate during a global pandemic, and how it now takes on new, perhaps more powerful meaning: a conduit of escapism.
It’s true, it is exactly this. The new Paula’s Ibiza collection is eternally joyous. What began in the Balearics, capturing the breezy free spirit of the hedonistic island and the escapism of its rave culture, is today explored by Anderson in what can only be described as a sumptuous visual feast.
“I’ve always said that PAULA’S IBIZA embodies the spirit of letting go,” he muses. “In this collection that ecstatic abandon is total: part rave, part cyberdog, in acidic neons, faded olive greens and borderline hues of scarlet, sunrise orange and midnight blue.”
This year, LOEWE’s Paula’s Ibiza Spring/Summer 2020 graduates into a fully-rounded collection that calls upon the iconic prints created by Paula’s founders, Armin Heinemann and Stuart Rudnick, who are forever influenced by the natural world. Anderson “pillaged from this kaleidoscopic archive,” with the collection featuring many of these patterns; mermaids swim among red corals on maxi-dresses and long robes with robust ruffled sleeves; Jikin goldfish wander among waterlilies on wide-hemmed capri pants, bolero skirts and swimwear.
The melange of merry print continues via playful accessories: Puzzle Bags, Totes, Cushions, Pouches, fannypacks and explorer hats. Accessory shapes take on new, aquatic form: octopus, dolphins, whales, seahorses and stars. Even a fragrance comes to the fore; the same liveliness is captured in LOEWE’s Paula’s Ibiza debut fragrance, which is both spontaneous and playful, a carefree composition of opposing notes of warm ambergris and fresh coconut water.
Like the rest of the collection, it’s escapism, bottled. And like Anderson says in his overture, just the thing to cheer us up right now.
