As the show note reads, “Anderson feeds on both the austereness and the pomp of Spanish iconography to conceive exaggerated shapes that are regal as they are harsh.” Indeed, the clothes mix opulence and aesthetism, flamboyance and rigour. Dresses in rich jacquards – garnet, blue, green – contrast with stark, head-to-toe black looks – from two-piece suits to dresses and big, long coats. The juxtapositions of textures “are extremized”, Loewe explains, “in amalgamations of coarseness and shine”, for example, as well as in wool and brocades, sturdy cottons and jacquard silks, solid surfaces and bold patterns. Red, gold, electric blue and green make stellar appearances among looks with a more muted colour palette.
It is, the Spanish house explains, “an exploration of silhouette and texture”. Anderson translates this research into extreme volumes, inflated sleeves, sculptural collars and raised necklines. Accessories play an important role in all this: the Creative Director adorns pumps and sneakers with bejewelled shoe clips, and also incorporates ceramic pieces by Takuro Kuwata onto dresses and on the drawstring of Flamenco clutches. “We have to push it somewhere new”, Anderson told Vogue’s Sarah Mower. “Dressing to impress – I think that’s an exciting thing”, he continued. And looking at his latest collection, it is clear how he’s created an impressive, awe-inspiring effect on all the garments he sent down the runway.