Ten Years of the Loewe Puzzle Bag: A Cubist Classic Celebrates a Decade

Vogue

3 days ago

Before the Loewe Puzzle bag ever made its debut on a Paris runway—before it earned its cult status, celebrity fanbase, and gallery-grade reissues—it existed first as an idea. A radical one at that: a cuboid bag, seemingly origami-folded, but in reality, hand-pieced from precision-cut panels of leather by artisans in Loewe's storied Spanish atelier. Ten years later, the Puzzle still defies category—at once avant-garde and deeply classic, practical yet imbued with the magic of high fashion.
To mark a decade of this icon, Loewe is launching the Puzzle 10 collection: a limited-edition lineup comprising 19 re-editions of archival Puzzle bags—each plucked from the brand's richly inventive past—and one jubilant newcomer. The anniversary collection is a celebration not just of a silhouette, but of the artistry that defines the house.
The Puzzle first appeared on the Loewe men's spring 2015 runway in Paris. At the time, it was a soft-spoken revolution: the bag's ingenious geometry allowed it to fold flat, while still maintaining an architectural structure once full. It took nine painstaking hours to construct, and its shape—new, novel, and unlike anything else on the market—quickly earned a place on the arms of collectors, stylists, and fashion lovers alike.
Designed under then creative director Jonathan Anderson, the Puzzle bag became emblematic of his vision for Loewe: deeply artisanal, rooted in Spanish heritage, but filtered through a thoroughly modern—and often irreverent—lens. (A quick survey of past Puzzles reveals denim, dice, a kiwi fruit, and a varsity 'L' appliqué among the motifs.)
For the Puzzle's 10-year anniversary, Loewe, now under the creative direction of Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, has opened the archives and pulled from its most imaginative creations. The Puzzle 10 collection includes re-editions like the Cloud bag of spring 2017, printed with dreamy cumulus across each angled panel, and the Polka edition, whose bold intarsia dots nodded to mid-century couture and 19th-century novels alike. There's the Patchwork version—stamped with the word 'WELCOME' along its shoulder strap, as if inviting us all in—and the Pixel Puzzle, a postmodern glitch in grayscale that recalls early internet graphics and made waves on the spring 2023 runway.
For those who prefer a fine arts flourish, there's the painterly Ken Price bag, constructed using Loewe's signature leather marquetry, and the richly embroidered Joe Brainard edition, decorated with pansies inspired by the New York School artist's beloved collages. Literature, too, finds its way in: a William Morris edition melds Victorian florals with punky hardware, and the Mackintosh Puzzle pays tribute to the Scottish artist's stained-glass rose motifs.
Loewe
Puzzle 10 Joe Brainard re-edition bag
$5,400
LOEWE
Loewe
Puzzle 10 William Morris re-edition bag
$6,800
LOEWE
Not to be missed is the sole newcomer to the mix, the Puzzle Confetti, which is pure celebration. Hand-embroidered with thousands of metallic and leather sequins, it captures the jubilant mood of the anniversary in every pastel-pink and silver flicker. (The design takes cues from Italian artist Lara Favaretto's confetti cube installation for Loewe's Fall 2023 women's show—10 tonnes of paper joy, reimagined in calfskin.)