LOEWE Archives: The Window Displays

The latest and second in our series of exhibitions opening up the LOEWE design vaults is now open at the LOEWE Gran Via gallery in Madrid. ‘LOEWE Archives: The Window Displays’ reflects on our rich history of imaginative window displays by celebrated artists and craftspeople, and reveals the impact that these vibrant aesthetics still have on the evolution of the brand today.

For over seventy years the brand has commissioned unbridled creative responses to its collections of artisan-crafted leather goods and Ready-to-Wear for the allurement of shoppers and passers-by in cities throughout the world. Now the archives have been opened and select examples are showcased and further contextualized with period photographs, artists’ sketches and curator’s notes. 

Some exhibits are juxtaposed with contemporary interpretations by our creative director Jonathan Anderson, including a larger-than-life metal grasshopper created in the 1960s by José Pérez de Rozas – the mastermind of LOEWE’s iconic window displays for over 30 years – whose iconic insect was reimagined by Anderson for the Summer 2017 displays.

Brought together for the first time, these exhibits chart a dynamic evolution of social and aesthetic practices through the lens of the brand’s history. The Gran Via exhibition space is a fitting venue for the exhibition, as the oldest still-operational LOEWE store, and the connection to unbound imagination and artisanal skill also continues, to this day.