Upon arrival at Loewe’s SS25 show venue, the crowds were out en-masse to witness entrances from the likes of Sabrina Carpenter, Jeff Goldblum and current 21st-century Internet boyfriend roster Leo Woodall, Kit Connor, Luke Newton, Drew Starkey and Archie Madekwe. Once the chaos had died down, guests were greeted by galloping horses and a pristine white show space populated with artworks from some of the most defining creatives of the 20th century. In a continuation of Fw24’s artist-inspired collection which saw Jonathan Anderson turn to the avant-garde oeuvre of Richard Hawkins, this season the designer chose to dissect the practice of Peter Hujar, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Carlo Scarpa, Susan Sontag and Paul Tek. While the chosen medium of each artist differs, the singularity in which they executed their visions and shared loyalty to individualism become the principles at the core of Loewe SS25.

Titled A Radical Act of Restraint, this season saw Anderson transform the mundanities of daily life into a whimsical world of fantasy, toying with the extremities of creativity and finding the sublime in between. As models rose from a staircase underneath the show venue floor, the first series of looks tapped into minimalist slim fit suiting in all black – but given a surrealist twist (of course) with the addition of feather headgear that billowed from models’ foreheads. Subverting traditional silhouettes, trousers appeared to be worn back-to-front, cable knit trousers ballooned in volumes from the waist like skirts, jackets seemed to have been blown apart by the wind and frozen in time, and belts were attached to the hems of both shirts and trousers.

True to form, the designer’s infamous clay shorts were given a patent makeover this season while waistlines continued to creep higher up the torso and touches of the uncanny were felt in warped visions of everyday essentials. The opulence of Anderson’s Loewe vision was felt in the materials; tops were crafted entirely in mother of pearl or pieced together with hundreds of gold clasps built from Loewe’s moniker. As the show came to a close, it felt as if Anderson had invited us all to step inside an amplified version of reality and in doing so, delivered a collection which marvelled at the artists who have come before him.