In the news

Amazing news from Loewe. The Madrid-based luxury fashion house is getting a facelift soon with the appointment of its new super cool and super young creative director, the London-based JW Anderson. London's wonder boy will surely cook up something exciting for the Spanish label. I seriously can't wait to see what's in store for Loewe.

photo via elle.com

JW Anderson fall 2013

The Junya Watanabe's Comme des Garçons for Loewe collection was launched earlier this month. I saw the collection up close in their Madrid stores during the Vogue Fashion's Night Out event. I think the collaboration was a fresh, daring, and spot-on move for Loewe. One of my fave bloggers ever, Susie Lau of Style Bubble wearing some pieces from the retailgasmic collection:

The same night, I also checked out the Anna Bauer "Backstage" exhibition they currently have in the Loewe store on Serrano, which features the fashion photographers backstage Polaroid shots of the biggest names in fashion.

Me at the gallery feeling all that black and white vibe in a sleeveless heather gray crop top and black maxi skirt, both from Topshop

Another thing creating a lot of buzz right now is the new H&M designer collaboration with Isabel Marant. Casual cool fashion from the Parisian designer made affordable, who can resist?? The patterned coat and jacket look awesome.

Masters of Leather

Last week my class was lucky enough to have a special guided tour of Madrid-based Spanish luxury brand Loewe's (actually pronounced as low-eh-ve) factory and private museum in the outskirts of the city. I have nothing to show but this instagram photo of just the reception area because taking photos wasn't allowed. Let me tell you though, the place was a leather wonderland with the best and most luscious top quality leather you can find and skilled artisans carefully handcrafting every single product. They even started a school right in the factory where the older generation trains and passes on the skills and know-how to a new generation of leather artisans to preserve the brands identity. Loewe prides itself of having leather products with the finest craftsmanship and seeing where their products are made and the people who work on them made me realize just how dedicated they are to their trade. Not only did we see the production process but we also learned about the history of the brand which started more than a hundred years ago. We saw items from back in the day when Loewe was the official supplier of leather goods to the Spanish Royal Court. We also saw RTW pieces made by Karl Lagerfeld and Giorgio Armani among other designers who spent some time working for the label. After the tour, we went back to the center of Madrid to check out the latest collection in the Loewe flagship store on Calle Serrano.

Loewe actually just upped its cool factor in my book by collaborating with Junya Watanabe Comme des Garçons for a winter 2013 capsule collection. This has surely pleased a lot of Loewe's fans from Japan, one of the brand's most important markets. Check out the fashion show, I never thought Loewe and punk would ever go together but I'm liking the combination. 

The brand's iconic Amazona bag totally CDG-ified with patchwork denim and polka dot details.