No show like a Loewe show: Irish designer Jonathan Anderson impresses at Paris Fashion Week

Designer Jonathan Anderson appears on the runway after the Loewe Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 show as part of Paris Fashion Week. Pictures: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

The Irish designer Jonathan Anderson took centre stage at Paris Fashion Week on Friday morning, with an extraordinary Loewe show.

On the grounds of the Chateau de Vincennes, in the east of Paris, the Spanish leather goods brand constructed a white box and lined it with metallic sculptures by American sculptor and visual artist Lynda Benglis. 

Kris Jenner watched on as Anderson’s vision for spring/summer 2024 unfurled.

Son of the former Irish international rugby captain William Anderson, the 39-year-old deploys his runway collections to subvert our expectations of familiar garments and distort the silhouette of the human body. 

Here, the needle of fashion is pushed forward and new ideas are paramount.

He recalled the classic English tailoring from the men’s show in June, continuing to toy with its proportions. Again, trousers rise high above the waist, to create an empire line. 

From the women’s show in March, he circled back to the idea of a coat doubling as a handbag.

They are styled with crisp shirting and wool blazers and, in some cases, amusingly abbreviated chunky knitwear.

From the women’s show in March, he circled back to the idea of a coat doubling as a handbag.

If luxury fashion is to conjure desire, Anderson masters his craft by allowing us to think beyond what we have come to expect from brands. His work is a reminder that fashion is a constant search for a new way of expressing ourselves through what we wear.

Anderson deploys his runway collections to subvert our expectations of familiar garments and distort the silhouette of the human body.

Over the last six days, the rugby pavilions across Paris were overshadowed by fashion. Like sport, the nine day-long trade show attracts thousands of fans from across the globe, with its commitment to spectacle and entertainment.

On Tuesday, French luxury titans Dior and Saint Laurent duked it out with purpose-built tents at the city’s most iconic locations — the Tuileries Gardens and the foot of the Eiffel Tower, respectively. 

Both conjured images of eras past, with Dior plumbing its history’s rich archive and Saint Laurent honing in on a Saharienne flight suit. 

The results were impressive — dashing, well-intentioned clothes, even if they were overshadowed by the showmanship that contextualised them.

Anderson masters his craft by allowing us to think beyond what we have come to expect from brands.

On the other hand, the American designer Rick Owens commanded the Palais de Tokyo, sending billowing plumes of neon pink and yellow smoke and raining flower petals into the crystal clear sky. 

It served as the backdrop for a dramatic procession of elongated column gowns in black leather and dusty pink suede. 

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Other forms emerged: Organza capes trail models as they swept the catwalk; plaits of wadding engulf their diminutive frames. Spectral characters encased in all-black cocoons rounded out his science fiction romance.

Paris Fashion Week continues until Tuesday, with shows from Victoria Beckham, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton to come. As the dazzling fashion parade draws to a close, the chant of the Irish national rugby team soars.