Back in 2023, I was struck by the work of Liam Lee, a Loewe Foundation Craft Prize finalist. The NYC-based artist creates whimsical felt furniture entirely from merino wool—pieces that are equal parts baroque and bizarre, strange vegetables sprung to life. It got me thinking about craft beyond the intricate weave or flawless glaze. In the Loewe universe, this artistry becomes a form of self-exploration—confronting, immediate, and at times, disarmingly guileless. That nuance that I find most intriguing.
Now in its second edition—following its debut in Shanghai last year—Loewe’s Crafted World exhibition has returned, this time in Tokyo’s Harajuku district, in collaboration with the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). The installation brought a fizzy kind of magic to the city, especially when seen late at night. The façade transformed into a glowing canvas of colourful lightboxes, illuminating the space with some of the house’s most iconic motifs: the anthurium, the elephant, the kooky mushrooms, and of course, the signature anagram.
Inside, the exhibition felt like a time capsule tracing Loewe’s 179-year evolution—a journey rooted in innovation, craftsmanship, and boundless creativity. What stood out most was realising that the whimsical sensibility often credited to most recent creative director Jonathan Anderson had, in fact, long been part of Loewe’s DNA. As early as 1945, artistic director José Pérez de Rozas brought this vision to life through his theatrical store displays. The brand’s collaborative spirit also stretches back decades: in the 1960s, architect Javier Carvajal transformed Loewe’s store interiors into showcases of contemporary art and craft, blurring the line between boutique and museum.
Despite the rich narrative woven throughout the exhibition, the highlight for me was Anderson’s ironic humour and his childlike sensibility, best captured in the tiny mouse holes scattered across the space. Inside them, little felt animals and mushrooms quietly reside—unexpected moments of delight. The Castle Room, in particular, sparked plenty of giggles from guests flopping happily onto rolling hills of astroturf, surrounding a two-meter-tall version of the Howl’s Moving Castle bag. Designed in 2023, the bag is a playful mash-up of Loewe’s most iconic designs, paying tribute to one of Studio Ghibli’s most beloved masterpieces.
And for any true fashion fiend, the room showcasing 54 of Anderson’s most iconic looks was pure catharsis. Like a fashion-obsessed trophy hunter, I made a beeline for the shattered mirror asymmetric dress—a 2016 look that’s been living rent-free in my head ever since. Coincidentally, that was also the year Anderson visited Singapore—and let’s just say, we partied hard that night.
Of course, displayed were also his now-iconic “irrational” dresses—like the one with a built-in car wedged beneath the hem—and his frequent forays into surrealism, which gleefully steered Loewe off-course. Think: enormous lips as tube tops, or gold breastplates handcrafted by French metal sculptors worn like armour over jersey dresses from spring 2022. Clothes have the power to shape identities, but under Anderson’s boundless imagination—and through the lens of craft—fashion suddenly becomes something more: an immersive art installation.
The joy of making things by hand is often said to be a dying art, yet Loewe’s commitment to preserving heritage through their Craft Prize program by uplifting individual artisans on a global stage is incredibly commendable. It is through the support of a brand like this that new generations of creatives are empowered to dream—and I hope Loewe continues to carry that spirit forward with the designers yet to come.
Visit Crafted World Tokyo at 6-35-6 Jingumae, Shibuya, Tokyo, Yodobashi J6 Building, from 29 March to 11 May.
