The warning behind Loewe’s eco-conceptual Paris Fashion Week show: Jonathan Anderson’s spring/summer menswear collection paired TV screen plates with clumps of grass for a dystopic vision

Jul 4 , 2022

A model presents a creation from the spring/summer 2023 collection of Loewe during the men’s fashion week in Paris, France, on June 25. Photo: Xinhua

Loewe thrust Paris Fashion Week into a bleak and dystopian vision of the future on Saturday, June 25 – turning its runway into a dead space where nature and animal life only existed to be harnessed and exploited by humankind. A sanitised white wall descended onto a bare deck as models walked by robotically, bathed in misty white light.

Loewe’s spring/summer 2023 collection, presented during the men’s fashion week in Paris, France, on June 25, featured plates of television screens showing deep water fish in the ocean, among other fauna. Photo: Xinhua

Grass appeared to grow out of clothing and shoes presented by Loewe for its spring/summer 2023 menswear collection, presented during Paris Fashion Week, on June 25. Photo: Xinhua

Models wore plates of television screens showing deep water fish in the ocean, and plasma screen visors beamed out growing chrysanthemums. The only place that grass grew in designer Jonathan Anderson’s fashion dystopia was literally out of shoes, where green blades quivered and flapped surreally as the automatons filed by.

Models showed off the spring/summer 2022-2023 men’s collection by British designer Jonathan William Anderson for Loewe fashion house during the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, on June 25, walking down a sanitised white runway. Photo: EPA-EFE

A striking yellow look from the spring/summer 2022-2023 men’s collection by British designer Jonathan William Anderson for the Loewe fashion house, presented during the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, on June 25. Photo: EPA-EFE

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A minimalist jumper with flapping sleeves and a flower design layered over sports leggings for Loewe’s spring/summer 2023 collection during the men’s fashion week in Paris, France, on June 25. Photo: Xinhua

The British designer used the remarkable set and concept not only as a springboard for some of the most accomplished designs seen this season, but to make a thoughtful comment about ecology and humanity’s contempt for the natural world. If we continue, Anderson warned, that world will be destroyed and the only way to see bees will be on video.

Bare chests indicated vulnerability in the spring/summer 2022-2023 men’s collection by British designer Jonathan William Anderson for the Loewe fashion house during the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, on June 25. Photo: EPA-EFE

Some clumps of grass emerging from clothing were as tall as 10cm, seen in Loewe’s spring/summer 2022-2023 men’s collection by British designer Jonathan William Anderson during the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, on June 25. Photo: EPA-EFE

The organic versus the robotic was explored in Anderson’s conceptual designs that were intentionally off-kilter. A white minimalist jumper had surplus sleeves that flapped about limply at the side of the model, on top of white sports leggings and loafers sprouting 10cm (4-inch) clumps of grass.

A close up of one of Loewe’s signature geometric bags in a vivid yellow hue, part of the spring/summer 2022-2023 men’s collection by British designer Jonathan William Anderson for the Loewe fashion house during the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, on June 25. Photo: EPA-EFE

A Loewe shopper from the brand’s spring/summer 2022-2023 men’s collection by British designer Jonathan William Anderson for Loewe fashion house presented during the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, on June 25. Photo: EPA-EFE

Bare chests and legs exposed vulnerability, while hard, square-strap bags slung across the shoulder added a contrasting fierceness. But the pièce de résistance must have been the giant mustard toggle shoes that looked like the hooves of a horse but could equally have come from the set of a Star Wars planetary village. A tour de force!

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Paris Fashion Week

Models walked down a bleak, white runway as the British designer urged more care for the natural world – lest we lose important animal and plant life
Minimalist white jumpers contrasted with the brand’s signature geometric bags, and giant yellow shoes that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a Star Wars set