Loewe (fashion brand)

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 approaches 175 years as the oldest and one of the world’s major luxury houses.[4]

LOEWE

The Loewe headquarters in Madrid
Type	Sociedad Anónima
Industry	Apparels, accessories
Founded	1846
Founder	Enrique Loewe y Roessberg
Headquarters	Madrid , Spain
Key people	Jonathan Anderson (Creative director) Pascale Lepoivre (CEO)
Products	Clothing, cosmetics, fashion accessories, jewelry, perfumes, watches
Revenue	US$341.1 million (2018)[1]
Net income	US$13 million (2018)[1]
Number of employees	1,300 (2018)[2]
Parent	LVMH Moët Hennessy - Louis Vuitton S.A.
Website	www.loewe.com

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 Ena 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. 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.[5]

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.[6]

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.[7]

By the 1970s, Loewe was expanding into perfumes and fashion with the creation of the Loewe logo, first designed by Karl Lagerfeld. Giorgio Armani and Laura Biagiotti subsequently designed Loewe's womenswear collections.[8]

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)[13] and Stuart Vevers (2008-2013)[14][15] 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.[16]

Jonathan Anderson became Loewe's creative director in 2013.[17] 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 stilllife.[18]

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.[19] The company remains based in Spain. Manufacture, particularly of leather goods, takes place in Barcelona and Getafe, near Madrid.[20]

Loewe in Osaka, Japan

The current King of Spain's mother, Queen Sofía, has been seen several times with Loewe handbags.

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.[21] The first London shop opened in 1963,[22] on Mayfair's Mount Street.[23] 

Loewe opened its first American outpost in New York – a three-story shop at the Trump Tower[24] – in 1983;[25] it closed in 1993.[26] Today, the company has three stores in the US, located in Miami's Design District (since 2016),[27][28] at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas (since 2018) and in New York (since 2019).[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]

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.[31] The foundation received a Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts from the Spanish government in 2002.[32] Following an initiative of designer Jonathan Anderson, the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize was established in 2017.[33]

Branding evolution

Evolution of the Loewe logo

• 
  until 2014

References

1. "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. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
2. "Loewe Careers". Loewe Official Site. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
3. Forvo Team. "Loewe pronunciation: How to pronounce LOEWE in Spanish, German".
4. "Jonathan Anderson: "Fashion is a competition"". Vogue. 28 September 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
5. "Loewe Handbags: Fiercely Spanish It-Bags". The Italist. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
6. "The Art of Craft: A History of Loewe". Heroine. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
7. "Modapedia: Loewe". Vogue. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
8. Jamie Huckbody (October 17, 2002), The king of leather The Independent.
9. Jamie Huckbody (October 17, 2002), The king of leather The Independent.
10. Constance C.R. White (June 17, 1997), Rodriguez Joins Loewe New York Times.
11. Suzy Menkes (June 17, 1997), In Fashion Chess, More New Moves International Herald Tribune.
12. Miles Socha (September 26, 2014), NARCISO RODRIGUEZ: BRINGING N.Y. SMARTS TO LVMH’S LOEWE Women's Wear Daily.
13. Jamie Huckbody (October 17, 2002), The king of leather The Independent.
14. Stuart Vevers named Creative Director of Loewe LVMH, press release of July 26, 2007.
15. Eric Wilson (June 24, 2013), Vevers Lands Top Spot at Coach New York Times.
16. Miles Socha (September 26, 2014), Jonathan Anderson Preps Loewe for Next Chapter Women's Wear Daily.
17. "J.W. Anderson Biography". Vogue. 21 August 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
18. "La cuarta campaña de Loewe o cómo la firma ha revolucionado la publicidad en la moda". Vogue España. 30 September 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
19. Matthew Schneier (June 25, 2014), A Provocateur Prepares to Show His Quiet Side New York Times.
20. Miles Johnson (November 29, 2012), Domestic production: Profitability begins at home as companies tap rich skill base Financial Times.
21. Miles Socha (September 26, 2014), Jonathan Anderson Preps Loewe for Next Chapter Women's Wear Daily.
22. Jamie Huckbody (October 17, 2002), The king of leather The Independent.
23. Jo Ellison (April 26, 2019), Loewe, luxury and the enduring allure of London’s Bond Street Financial Times.
24. Anne-Marie Schiro (February 7, 1983), A NEW WAVE OF BOUTIQUES ROLLS IN FROM EUROPE New York Times.
25. Bernadine Morris (September 21, 1983), Loewe Leather Arrives New York Times.
26. Constance C.R. White (June 17, 1997), Rodriguez Joins Loewe New York Times.
27. Miles Socha (September 26, 2014), Jonathan Anderson Preps Loewe for Next Chapter Women's Wear Daily.
28. Tilly Macalister-Smith (December 3, 2015), Loewe opens new store-cum-gallery in Miami’s Design District Wallpaper.
29. Katherine Bernard (December 19, 2019), Loewe Opens a Store New York Times.
30. Miles Socha (November 17, 2016), ‘Think Loewe,’ Jonathan Anderson Tells Spain Women's Wear Daily.
31. "Loewe Foundation ¡Madrid!". Madrid Official Tourism Website. 22 September 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
32. "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. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
33. Caroline Roux (July 12, 2019), Loewe Foundation Craft Prize showcases contemporary innovation Financial Times.