Loewe Crafted World is a new exhibition exploring and celebrating craft in all its forms, on view at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre until 5 May 2024 (before traveling worldwide). The event marks Loewe's first public exhibition, and a way for the brand's creative director Jonathan Anderson to create 'a homage to all the craftspeople around the world that have dedicated their lives to the handmade.’
Loewe Crafted World: inside the exhibition
Featuring exhibition design by OMA, Loewe's Crafted World will offer an immersion into the house's designs and history, exploring the cultural collaborations that have shaped its trajectory from a leather-making collective founded in 1846 to a leading fashion company. The exhibition charts the history of Loewe through craft, both as a 178-year tradition but also as a means for creative collaboration and support of the industry, through initiatives such as the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize.
The multimedia display touches upon Anderson's collections for the brand as well as Loewe's support of global craft, and includes a series of interactive roomscapes that bring to life the brand's inspirations.
The exhibition develops around six thematic chapters, each highlighting an element of Loewe's approach to craft. Born from the Hand tells the story of Loewe's early days and its evolution from leather workshop to global fashion house, while Welcome to Spain explores its roots taking visitors through the sights and sounds of the country brought to life via photography, of contemporary and historical landmarks and national artefacts.
At The Atelier, visitors are walked through the steps that make a Loewe bag, from the selection of leathers to a painstaking process of cutting, trimming, painting and assembling by hand. Spectacularly, this section of the exhibition ends with a two-metre tall reproduction of the brand's Howl’s Moving Castle bag, interpreting the 2004 Studio Ghibli film through traditional craft and contemporary flair.
A chapter dedicated to Anderson's fashion collections (Fashion Without Limits) is followed by United in Craft, a moment in the exhibition 'celebrating the joy of making things with one’s hands,' where the works from the annual Loewe Foundation Craft Prize are on display, demonstrating the breadth of the award's scope and of Loewe's support for artisanal techniques.
Finally, Unexpected Dialogues is a nine-room exploration of Loewe's inspirations from the past ten years, including a recreation of a New Mexico pottery studio, a jade quarry (a nod to Loewe's most recent Lunar New Year collection), a life-sized Joe Brainard, and more Studio Ghibli, with a dreamworld bringing to life their aesthetics and motifs. Finally, three spaces are dedicated to 19th-century British Arts & Crafts, with the work of William Morris, William De Morgan and CFA Voysey each presented in a dedicated space with larger-than-life effects.
Loewe Crafted World is on view until 5 May 2024
Shanghai Exhibition Centre
no. 1000 Middle Yan'an Road
