Loewe confirms J W Anderson leaving the brand

Jonathan Anderson taking the bow for his Loewe menswear spring/summer 2025 collection last July. Screen shot: loewe/YouTube

It is one of the worst kept secrets in the industry. The rumour has been circulating forever. Finally, Loewe has announced that their star designer Jonathan Anderson is parting ways with the Spanish house after 11 accolade-earning years with the company, where he created not just clothes deemed creative, but also one of the most identifiable bag of the past decade: the Puzzle. Rumours have been circulating for the past six months—at least—that Mr Anderson shall quit his job. They intensified after the disturbing chatter that two Americans Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernández of Proenza Schouler had stepped down from the brand they co-founded to head for Loewe. This was to the consternation of so many who have fervently supported Mr Anderson.

The Irish designer has not said what his next move will be, nor has LVMH, the parent company of Loewe that unlikely would let him leave the group. Loewe’s CEO Pascal Lepoivre has said that under Mr Anderson’s creative direction, the brand “has risen to new heights with international recognition”. If that is so, it is unclear why LVMH needed to jounce the status quo. Loewe sitting out the just-concluded Paris Fashion Week, except a static presentation for the autumn/winter 2025 collection, was taken to mean that Mr Anderson was ending his tenure. Interestingly, there has been no confirmation that Mr McCollough and Mr Hernández will take over as CDs. Why the continued hush-hush is unclear.

The official announcement also lacked specific reasons for Mr Anderson’s leaving. But, practically everyone already knows that it’s because he’d be going to Dior. There are even supposed leaks that he has already started working on the men’s spring/summer 2026 season, scheduled to show in June, which thus did not allow him the time to stage a proper swan song show. If true, this could explain why Kim Jones had to leave somewhat hurriedly and then disappeared—curious for a designer believed to be bankable. His departure meant that Mr Anderson could start on the men’s line early in order to launch with a definitive collection. Jonathan Anderson designed both the men’s and women’s at Loewe; he would want to continue to do so at Dior. The countdown is on with Maria Grazia Chiuri’s final collection.