LOEWE’s latest capsule collection pays homage to 19th century British ceramicist William De Morgan. De Morgan was the leading tile designer of the Arts and Crafts movement, famed for his use of rich, vivid colours and orientalist patterns. De Morgan began his formal training as a fine artist, before being led by his scientific and mathematical investigations to the decorative arts, creating stained glass, designing his own kilns, undertaking investigations in chemistry to create innovative lustre glazes and, finally, enjoying a second career as an author of popular fiction.
His eye-catching designs have inspired LOEWE’s collection, with blue and white tiles hand-painted with dodos, fishing otters, herons looming ominously over frogs, and dragons appearing on coats, sweaters, shirts, trousers, scarves, hats, bags and wallets. Twirling floral arabesques under luminous glazes are printed on soft natural fabrics and calfskin, or handstitched in wool.
Jonathan Anderson, Creative Director at LOEWE, explains, “Each year we have tackled different Arts and Crafts heroes of mine,” “For me, it was a very natural process to do William De Morgan, he was a big collaboration in the Arts and Crafts movement and a true fantasist in that movement.”
The collection includes womenswear, menswear and accessories. Some garments are adorned with whole sequences of tiles, others with one detail blown up, some pieces make obvious use of De Morgan's designs, some take only a subtle detail. Highlights of the collection include a peacock-print trench coat in indigo, cerulean and green and knitted robes featuring a crocheted dodo motif. LOEWE’s bag silhouettes, such as the Puzzle, Hammock and Gate, are covered with De Morgan’s drawings of peacock feathers and flowers.
LOEWE says that the collection conveys a freedom of imagination; where the magical is blended with the everyday. The LOEWE De Morgan capsule collection is available to purchase on LOEWE’s website, and in its stores.
