Loewe has just announced that the American duo shall replace the much-loved Jonathan Anderson

Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez at the Proenza Schouler spring/summer 2025 show. Screen shot: proenzaschouler/YouTube

Two months ago, it was said that Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler—the label they started—had met with LVMH to discuss the possibility of the twosome joining one of the group’s brands. At the time, most fashion insiders and observers were almost certain that it was Loewe the two would be heading to take over Jonathan Anderson, who was thought to be leaving for Dior (that is not confirmed till this day). As it turned out, it was not speculative fervour. Loewe has just announced that Mr McCollough and Mr Hernandez have been appointed the Spanish house’s new creative directors. There was nothing surprising in that reveal. To some, it is the most anti-climatic of recent new-appointment announcements.

In a joint statement, the designers said: “We are incredibly honoured to join Loewe, a house whose values and mission align closely with our own. We look forward to working alongside its extraordinary teams and artisans, whose talent—under the exceptional creative direction of Jonathan Anderson—has shaped LOEWE into the cultural force it is today.” They acknowleged Mr Anderson, but it is not certain who exactly Loewe was referring to when, in the same statement, they said of the new hires: “Their work over the past two decades has played an important role in shaping modern fashion while cultivating an ongoing dialogue with contemporary culture. Their design practice, rooted in a rigorous exploration of craft filtered through an artistic sensibility, has evolved the industry’s landscape.” As one marketing consultant told us, “sorry, I must have been sleeping.”

Loewe’s chief executive officer Pascale Lepoivre told WWD that the duo “are highly creative and also entrepreneurs”, but she did not say if they are more creative than Mr Anderson. Or more entrepreneurial. To drop a label they created so as to be able to join another that’s clearly more prestigeous speaks massively of their professional craving, even lust. Given that there are two of them, both, it seemed, did not contemplate carrying on with Proenza Schouler concurrently, as Jonathan Anderson did (and still does) with his own brand. We watched Mr McCollough’s and Mr Hernandez’s last two Proenza Schouler shows and could not quite see a traceable line to Loewe, or where they could really take the brand beyond the artsy vibe of their innocuous designs. It is true that the two—believed to be in their 40s, but still referred to as “boys”—have very large shoes, grass-covered or not, to fill.