On x Loewe: performance meets high fashion
LVMH-owned Spanish luxury fashion and leathergoods house Loewe, led by creative director Jonathan Anderson, has teamed up with Swiss performance gear and shoe brand On.
Global head of design at the Zurich-based firm, Thilo Brunner, described how there had been no compromise on the technical aspects of the activewear capsule, which includes reinterpretations of On’s Cloudventure running shoes and Cloudrock hiking boot, plus waterproof anoraks, technical running pants and performance t-shirts.
By scanning a QR code, available on the brands’ websites, would-be shoppers can “try on” both footwear styles via a specially developed virtual fitting room.
Each shoe features an “exclusive” Missiongrip technology marbled rubber sole, courtesy of On. Loewe’s well-known Anagram marker and On’s own logo have been screen-printed onto the footwear, as tangible evidence of the dual-designed collaboration.
Elaborating on the creative synergy between craft enthusiast Mr Anderson and himself, as an industrial designer, Mr Brunner said: “What we are both into a lot is manufacturing and processes, and how things are really made."
Meanwhile, Loewe's creative lead added separately that there is today “nothing better” than the blend of performancewear and high fashion. Echoing Mr Brunner and revealing his own, often artisanal approach, Mr Anderson shared how his inspirations for the collection were grounded in “this idea of crafting an object, thinking about it as a long-term product, not as a kind of short-term gain”.
Loewe painted the collection as “sustainable”, due to its incorporation of recycled polyester fibres.
Image: Loewe/On via Instagram.
