Incorporating living plants into clothing is certainly not an easy task. That’s without counting on the patience and ingenious collaboration between Loewe‘s creative director Jonathan Anderson and Spanish bio-designer Paula Ulargui Escalona to grow chia and matricaria (catnip) plants on a series of shoes and garments in Loewe’s Spring/Summer 2023 collection.
Through this bold new approach – the plants were seeded, watered and grown for 20 days in a polytunnel outside Paris – Jonathan Anderson questions the paradoxical relationship between the real and digital reproduction, nature and technology, the fusion of the organic and the manufactured.
While screens showing a flight of birds or a flock of fish swimming peacefully have been integrated on some clothes, chia and matricaria plants grew by culture on pants, coats, sweaters but also shoes.
Echoing the theme, tech accessories such as headphones, phone cases and styles were also incorporated on a series of essential pieces.
The rest of the collection, men’s fashion staples were updated in loose and long proportions, some of which were made with ozone-treated cotton, achieving a worn look as if they had been buried underground. Delightful, sunny colors further enhanced the desirability of this confident collection.
©Loewe
