Loewe (, ) ( stylized as LOEWE) is a Spanish luxury fashion house specialising in leather goods, clothing, perfumes and other fashion accessories. Founded in 1846, Loewe is

LVMH LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French holding multinational corporation and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. The company was formed in 1987 through the merger of fashion house ...

's oldest luxury fashion house. The company was established in 1846 when a group of Spanish leather craftsmen in Madrid were joined by Enrique Loewe, a merchant of

Hessian A Hessian is an inhabitant of the German state of Hesse. Hessian may also refer to: Named from the toponym *Hessian (soldier), eighteenth-century German regiments in service with the British Empire **Hessian (boot), a style of boot **Hessian f ...

origin. By the early 20th Century, many notable people took great interest in Loewe and

Queen Victoria Eugenie Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena of Battenberg (24 October 1887 – 15 April 1969) was Queen consort of Spain, Queen of Spain as the wife of King Alfonso XIII from their marriage on 31 May 1906 until 14 April 1931, when the Spanish Second Republic wa ...

became a regular customer. In 1905, Alfonso XIII granted them the Royal Warrant of Appointment and thus Loewe became Purveyor of the Royal Household of Spain. The company quickly grew in popularity and was promoted by figures such as Ernest Hemingway, Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich and

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood ci ...

amongst others.

History

Loewe was founded in 1846 in Madrid by a group of Spanish leather craftsmen, and the brand originated in 1876 when Enrique Loewe y Roessberg, a German craftsman, joined the group.

King Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alf ...

of Spain granted Enrique Loewe y Hinton, a descendant of the original brand founder, the title of Purveyor to the Royal Court. His wife,

, frequently visited the store on Príncipe de Madrid street. By the 1970s, Loewe was expanding into perfumes and fashion with the creation of the Loewe anagram logo, designed by Spanish painter Vicente Vela.

Giorgio Armani Giorgio Armani (; born 11 July 1934) is an Italian fashion designer. He first gained notoriety working for Cerruti and then for many others, including Allegri, Bagutta and Hilton. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually expande ...

and Laura Biagiotti subsequently designed Loewe's womenswear collections.Jamie Huckbody (17 October 2002)
The king of leather
'' The Independent''. In 1986,

bought the rights to Loewe's international distribution. It acquired Loewe completely in 1996. That year, Loewe had sales of about $200 million, among the smallest of LVMH's companies; ready-to-wear was responsible for 10 percent of that total.Constance C.R. White (17 June 1997)
Rodriguez Joins Loewe
'' New York Times''. By 1997, Narciso Rodriguez joined the company as new creative director and the brand had its first Paris runway presentation at LVMH headquarters in the fall/winter 1998 season. Both

José Enrique Oña Selfa José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernac ...

(2000-2007) and

Stuart Vevers Stuart Vevers (born 17 November 1973) is a British fashion designer. He graduated from the University of Westminster in 1996. His first job was at Calvin Klein, followed by Bottega Veneta, Givenchy and Louis Vuitton, where he worked with Mar ...

(2008-2013) followed. During Vever's tenure, Loewe scaled back fashion to concentrate on handbags, leather apparel and a substantial gift business based on leather picture frames and leather boxes.Miles Socha (26 September 2014)
Jonathan Anderson Preps Loewe for Next Chapter
'' Women's Wear Daily''. Jonathan Anderson became Loewe's creative director in 2013. His first ready-to-wear collections for Loewe were presented in 2014. He has also been deploying a series of publicity campaigns by

Steven Meisel Steven Meisel (born June 5, 1954) is an American fashion photographer, who obtained popularity and critical acclaim with his work in ''Vogue'' and ''Vogue Italia'' as well as his photographs of friend Madonna in her 1992 book, ''Sex''. He is n ...

and

Damien Ropero Damien is a given name and less frequently a surname. The name is a variation of Damian which comes from the Greek ''Damianos''. This form originates from the Greek derived from the Greek word δαμάζω (damazō), "(I) conquer, master, overco ...

for the stillife. Since 2014, Loewe's headquarters – including the design team, which had previously been based in Madrid – has been located on Place Saint-Sulpice in Paris. The company remains based in Spain. Manufacture, particularly of leather goods, takes place in Barcelona and Getafe, near Madrid. Hilton Osaka01s2400

The current

King of Spain , coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg , coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain , image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg , incumbent = Felipe VI , incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...

's mother, Queen Sofía, has been seen several times wearing Loewe handbags, as well as

Queen Letizia Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano (; born 15 September 1972) is the Queen of Spain as the wife of King Felipe VI. She came from a middle-class family and worked as a journalist for '' ABC'' and EFE before becoming a news anchor at CNN+ and Televisión ...

Locations

Loewe stores are located worldwide. In 2014, Loewe’s 143 stores were concentrated mainly in Spain and Japan, which respectively had 37 and 27 locations. The first London shop opened in 1963, on

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

's Mount Street. Loewe opened its first American store in New York, a three-story shop at the Trump Tower, in 1983; it closed 1993. Today, the company has three stores in the US, located in Miami's Design District (since 2016), at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas (since 2018) and in New York (since 2019). In 2016, Loewe opened Casa Loewe Madrid, the brand’s first flagship in Madrid and – with – its largest store in the world. It is located in the ground floor of the company's head office in a landmark 19th-century building. In 2019, Loewe outgrew its London store in Mount Street and opened Casa Loewe at 41-42 New Bond Street. HK CWB Times Square mall shop Loewe July-2014 RedMi handbag logo

Loewe Foundation

In 1988, Enrique Loewe y Lynch, great-grandchild of the firm's creator, founded the Loewe Foundation, a private cultural foundation that supports cultural events and exhibitions. Today, his daughter Sheila Loewe is the President of the foundation supporting design and craftsmanship. The foundation received a Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts from the Spanish government in 2002. Following an initiative of designer Jonathan Anderson, the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize was established in 2017.Caroline Roux (12 July 2019)
Loewe Foundation Craft Prize showcases contemporary innovation
'' Financial Times''.

Branding evolution

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loewe (Brand) LVMH brands Luxury brands High fashion brands Spanish brands Clothing companies established in 1846 Spanish Royal Warrant holders Companies based in Madrid Clothing companies of Spain 1846 establishments in Spain Spanish subsidiaries of foreign companies