The $356 million man leaves fashion’s coolest brand
It took Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson nearly 12 years to put a label that nobody could pronounce on everyone’s lips, but today he announced his resignation as creative director of Loewe.
Anderson remains silent on his strongly rumoured promotion to the top job at Dior.
Elle Fanning in Loewe at the Oscars; Jonathan Anderson at the Loewe autumn 2024/25 menswear show on January 20, 2024 in Paris; Zendaya in Loewe at the Challengers premiere in Sydney, March 2024.Credit: Getty Images
“They say all good things must come to an end, but I disagree. While my own chapter draws to a close, Loewe’s story will continue for many years to come, and I will look on with pride,” Anderson posted to his private social media account.
Since taking over at Loewe, Anderson has transformed the brand from a stealth wealth secret to a hemline dictator, helping steer the zeitgeist with the celebrity support of Zendaya, Daniel Craig and Elle Fanning.
In October, Loewe reported a profit of €207 million ($356 million) for the financial year, up 62.5 per cent on the previous year. Success has fuelled rumours that Anderson will succeed Maria Grazia Chiuri at the luxury juggernaut Dior. She took over from Raf Simons as creative director in 2016.
“I have had the pleasure of working with some of the great artistic directors of recent times,
and I consider Jonathan Anderson to be amongst the very best,” Sidney Toledano, chief executive of LVMH Fashion Group and former chief executive of Dior said in an official statement. “What he has contributed to Loewe goes beyond creativity.”
At Paris Fashion Week this month, Loewe dispensed with a runway show, hosting a presentation at the Hotel de Soyecourt that Anderson didn’t attend. Instead, he posted a retrospective of his greatest hits at Loewe to his social media accounts.
“Over the last 11 years, I have been lucky enough to be surrounded by people with the imagination, the skills, tenacity and resourcefulness to find a way to say ‘yes’ to all my wildly ambitious ideas,” Anderson said.
“Looking back, I’ve come to realise that a brand is not built on the first show, or even a first year of shows, it’s built slowly season upon season, year upon year, on what is right for a brand.”
Anderson’s replacement at Loewe has not been announced. This is the latest in a shuffle of major players in the fashion world, with former Balenciaga designer Demna announced as the creative director of Gucci last week, Donatella Versace replaced by Dario Vitale at Versace and Simone Bellotti set to take over at Jil Sander.
While former Alexander McQueen designer Sarah Burton recently debuted at Givenchy, Bottega Veneta designer Matthieu Blazy is set to succeed Virginie Viard at Chanel, highlighting the scarcity of women in leading roles at fashion houses – a topic that is again under scrutiny.
Now, all eyes are on Dior. Chiuiri’s Instagram account currently features a photograph of her alone at the end of the Dior runway, preparing for her bow.
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