Latest news with #Loewe
Fashion United
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Fashion United
Women's footwear SS26 trend predictions
Footwear manufacturing is predominately done in China these days and as of this writing, the costs of tariffs importing into the USA are unknown. However, we now know what consumers are looking for and what will most likely be on offer for SS26. In keeping with other parts of the fashion industry, macro trends in footwear have slowed down in recent seasons. As we have witnessed recently, SS26 themes in clothing signal a nostalgia for past stylings, and in particular, the the 'preppy' looks made popular in the 1980s. Looking even further back, historical romance driven by popular TV shows like Bridgerton and the Gilded Age has engendered an interest in exquisite materials and textures. On the other hand, as travel to the East becomes more popular, consumers are gravitating towards that which is earthy and raw in the natural world. Finally, gender fluidity still resonates, with women donning menswear looks. The appropriate footwear is needed to accompany these trends in apparel. Dancing Feet Inspiration for these ballet-influenced slippers comes from the Regency dancing shoes of TV show Bridgerton, last year's micro trend ballet-core and the stylings of footwear designers like Sandy Liang. Materials will include soft leather, coated knit and metallic thread in a variety of colors. Credits: Acne Studio SS25/©Launchmetrics/spotlight Credits: Simone Rocha SS25/©Launchmetrics/spotlight Credits: Esber SS25/©Launchmetrics/spotlight Credits: Alainpaul SS25/©Launchmetrics/spotlight Borrowed From the Boys Gender fluid dressing continues to resonate, and along with it, menswear-inspired footwear styles. For SS26 they get a feminine twist. For example, a lace-up can be rendered in a transparent mesh material. Penny loafers and monk shoes can get interesting color washes and updated details such as off-kilter toe caps and low backs. Credits: Kent Curwen SS25/©Launchmetrics/spotlight Credits: Loewe SS25/©Launchmetrics/spotlight Credits: Prada SS25/©Launchmetrics/spotlight Credits: Victoria Beckham SS25/©Launchmetrics/spotlight The Yacht Club Last year's preppy looks move forward into SS26 to include boating classics like deck shoes. Trending sneakers continue to be low riders. Techno thongs look best when color-blocked. Jelly' and other similar textures will be popular. Credits: Fiorucci SS25/©Launchmetrics/spotlight Credits: Chloé SS25/©Launchmetrics/spotlight Credits: Miu Miu SS25/©Launchmetrics/spotlight Credits: Rave Review SS25/©Launchmetrics/spotlight Craft Work Consumers are gravitating toward artisanal looking strappy summer sandals reminiscent of their Asian travels. Materials include detailed leather and vegan leather, woven straw and raffia in natural or spicy colors. Soles are either flat or on narrow platforms. Credits: Elie Saab SS25/©Launchmetrics/spotlight Credits: Alberta Ferretti SS25/©Launchmetrics/spotlight Credits: Ulla Johnson SS25/©Launchmetrics/spotlight Credits: Zimmermann SS25/©Launchmetrics/spotlight
The Star
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
She made fashion's weirdest footwear, now she's design director of shoes at Dior
Back in late 2018, a lifetime ago in fashion, a radical shift happened in footwear. Square-toed clunkers – sandals defined by exaggerated, spatula-like soles that jutted out from under the foot and pumps with bulbous stubbed toes – were shown in Daniel Lee's first collection for Bottega Veneta. At first sight, the shoes were hideous. Within months, they were on the feet of nearly every celebrity, editor, influencer and luxury VIC in the land. Retailers like Vince Camuto and Shein promptly issued dupes of the popular Lido sandal, a simple slide in a blown-up interpretation of Bottega's signature intrecciato woven leather. Lyst declared them the 'hottest shoes in the world' in 2019. 'It's funny what you can make people wear in fashion if it's done the right way,' said Nina Christen, the Swiss shoe designer responsible for the Lido. Christen's distinctive touch has quite literally been all over some of the most influential shoe design trickling down from luxury houses for the better part of the past decade. She has worked for Phoebe Philo at Celine, Jonathan Anderson at Loewe, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen at the Row and Lee at Bottega Veneta. Last month, Anderson hired Christen as the design director of shoes at Christian Dior. It's one of the biggest jobs in fashion right now, and she is balancing it with a moonlighting gig, too. Read more: Era of the Frankenshoes: Why are hybrid footwear becoming so fashionable? Last year, Christen introduced her eponymous independent shoe brand. The first pure expression of her design identity came partly out of frustration. The shoes she designed for other brands were her taste, her take, she said, but they were never 100% herself. Opportunity arose when she met Paul Dupuy, an entrepreneur and a founder of Zoi, a health-tech company in the longevity space. Christen designed uniforms for Zoi's staff and clients, and Dupuy was so impressed that he offered to help her start her own brand. His mother was a fashion designer, and he has friends in the industry. He got it. 'When she told me she designed shoes for Loewe and Bottega, I was like: 'OK. This is solid,'' Dupuy said. Christen already had a complete vision for a brand beyond shoes: the perfect pair of Japanese denim jeans, the perfect leather jacket, even fine jewellery, the first piece of which is a diamond toe ring. All are prototyped and planned. She had the packaging, branding, logo and positioning in mind. Dupuy raised US$5mil (approximately RM63.6mil) in capital and helps with business logistics, including with the planning of a store in Paris slated for 2026. Christen shoes are produced in Italy by the same factories and specialists that work with big luxury brands. The prices – US$1,100 to US$3,650 (RM4,668 to RM15,485) – reflect Christen's uncompromising production standards and ambition to compete at the highest level. On a morning in late June, the raw cement floor of the studio below Christen's apartment in Paris was set with more than 30 examples of her designs arranged in a neatly art-directed grid. Three styles from Loewe's Spring/Summer 2023 runway collection stood out for their cartoonish, fantastical qualities. There were pumps embroidered with an explosion of deflated white balloons and sandals abloom with a giant, hyper-realistic anthurium. Red rubber pumps that looked fit for Minnie Mouse were particularly complicated. 'You can't wear this for more than two hours,' Christen said of the pumps. 'But Jonathan Anderson was very open to ideas that really crossed the line between art and fashion.' By comparison, the styles on display by Christen's brand appeared compact, sexy and razor-sharp. 'I love the space of geometric shapes,' Christen said, surveying the body of work at her feet. 'When I think of toe shapes, for example, it's all about that. Is it a square? Is it rectangle? Is it a circle? Is it oval? What is the degree?' Dozens of Nina Christen's shoe designs – Bottega Veneta, Loewe and Celine, among them – arranged in a grid in her home studio in Paris. Photo: The New York Times She wore a pair of white sandals by her brand that left the foot nearly naked, bisecting it with a single strip of leather like a strand of floss through the big and second toes. The sole was thin and slightly elongated under the toes, like an insole that was a size too big. The proportions of the shoes varied wildly, but a common thread was a certain offness. Christen thinks a lot about redefining standards. 'It's about creating things we are not used to yet,' she said. 'When I make something and I don't know if I like it, that's always a good sign.' Christen, 40, grew up in Bern, Switzerland, in her own words, 'obsessed with fashion without an explanation'. 'It was just in me,' she added. There she studied technical tailoring and pattern-making and practiced on the 'normal' garments she prefers to wear in her personal life. She never dreamed of being a shoe designer. Finding Switzerland to be a fashion void, she moved to Paris. While completing a master's degree at Institut Francais De La Mode, a shoe design workshop liberated her. 'I realised I could do all kinds of crazy things,' she said. Christen met Lee in 2017 when they were working for Phoebe Philo at Celine. Before that, Christen did the rounds consulting for less elite players, including Marimekko and H&M. Consulting for the traditional French rubber boot brand Aigle proved to be one of her most formative gigs. Read more: Jane Birkin's original Hermes bag sold for over RM42mil in an intense auction The platform rubber boots she designed for Philo's last collections at Celine, and subsequently the viral Bottega Veneta Puddle Boot introduced in 2020, were directly descended from what Christen learned at Aigle. 'I thought, 'Why not make it fashion?'' she said. 'Working with Nina was a special collaboration,' said Lee, who has been the creative director of Burberry since 2022. 'She's a designer that understands precision and refinement.' Rather than reference the work of a specific artist or architect, Christen draws from the worlds of science and spirituality. She cited CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, as a source of inspiration, the tangible effect of which is difficult to explain. 'It's more that I like to think about things that are impossible,' she said. 'From drawing shoes to the reality, there is this huge gap of things that you can do, things that you cannot do. I enjoy finding a way to do new things.' The power of the mundane, even the ugly, courses through Christen's work. 'Every day I see normal people wearing extremely interesting things that have nothing really to do with fashion,' she said. Orthopedic shoes for the elderly have been good source material. After Christen's first year in business, its most popular shoe is a grandpa-style slip-on bootee lined in goat shearling. As Christen said, 'Once you wear them, you cannot wear anything else.' – ©2025 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Telegraph
A tale of two totes: These beach bags are seaside-to-city staples
It's time to face facts: women wear 20 per cent of their wardrobes 80 per cent of the time. Investing in a holiday wardrobe that only gets worn for two weeks a year doesn't make financial sense, however long you keep your clothes. Everything we buy needs to work extra hard for the money. Right now, beach bags are the 'It' items seguing from seaside to city. Thankfully, summer 2025's key styles are some of the chicest yet. Giant straw bags and striped market totes are cool statement makers. After all, if you buy a bag you love, why wouldn't you carry it everywhere? Kay Barron, fashion director at Net-a-Porter, agrees: 'Straw bags are much more versatile than you think and shouldn't be exclusively brought out for holidays. They are excellent city weekend bags and add a chic French nonchalance to denim and white shirting.' In recent seasons designers have elevated humbly crafted baskets (which look like they were picked up from a harbour-side stall) with logos and subsequently stratospheric price tags. The Net-a-Porter's bestsellers edit includes the latest Loewe + Paula's Ibiza collection [the Ola bag is £1,650] and the Olivia large raffia shoulder bag by Khaite [£1,810].' Before you choke on your iced latte, be aware that the high street and independent designers all have options that won't make such a sizeable dent in your summer spending. For those looking for something a little more dopamine-inducing than the rusticity of a raffia basket, the trend for bright striped totes – echoing the styles you might fill with heirloom tomatoes and a loaf of artisan sourdough from the farmers' market – is equally hot this summer. In the UK, one of the first brands to focus on the stripy style was Ace & Prince. Co-founded by Chloe Forde in 2020, Ace & Prince's mission is longevity and its tote's super strong nylon and canvas fabrication ensures this. 'I love the idea of an accessory that lasts a really long time, no matter what phase of your life you're in,' explains Forde. With a parallel career as a stylist, Forde notes that while she doesn't often dress colourfully, utilising a 'pop of colour from an accessory is an easy way to style yourself'. This is particularly pertinent in the city, which sometimes calls for a more sober clothing palette. Instagram creator Emma Paton is a fan of striped totes for country, coastal and city-wear: 'Stripes are timeless and never go out of style [but] they do seem to be this summer's print.' Her love of stripes sparked a collaboration with brand The Contents Bag on a range of totes, which can be styled away from the French Riviera climes that inspired the designs. Paton suggests wearing one of her striped totes with 'a white maxi skirt and cami top', and says not to be afraid of 'wearing stripes with stripes' – her favourite 'Balzac Paris Léonor blue stripe shirt' is a staple for this. Whether you yearn for the hit of a striped shopping tote or the bucolic charm of a straw basket, both styles can instantly transport you back to holiday mode, even when you are battling a frenetic city commute. When fashion is the catalyst for such happy, nostalgic summer memories, surely you would want to keep them close at the most stressful times of your life? Doubling the wear of a formerly holiday-only item is undoubtedly the best way to do it.
Fashion Network
2 days ago
- Business
- Fashion Network
Loewe opens registrations for ninth edition of its Craft Prize
The Loewe Foundation has officially opened the call for entries for its contemporary arts and crafts prize. The ninth installment of the competition promoted by the Spanish luxury house, Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, whose registration period will remain open until October 30, will be held in the spring of 2026 in Singapore. The award, created in 2016 by the Spanish firm in order to celebrate artistic merit, excellence and innovation in contemporary craftsmanship, is aimed at professional artists of legal age. The winner will be rewarded with a cash prize of 50,000 euros, while two special mentions of 5,000 euros each will also be awarded. "I am extraordinarily pleased to see how year after year the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize provides a platform for the promotion of exceptional talent. The competition rewards artists who are able to bring together pure creativity and a deep connection, reverence even, with their materials and culture. Craftsmanship represents the values we wish to pass on to the next generation: care, dedication and imagination. Precisely the gestures that shape the future," explained Sheila Loewe, president of the Loewe Foundation. The next edition will have a panel of experts made up of artists, curators and industry professionals, who will select the 30 finalists after evaluating aspects such as originality, technical excellence, personal vision, and innovation. New additions to the jury include Scott Chaseling, Nifemi Marcus-Bello, and Didi NG Wing Yin, finalists in the 2025 edition of the award. In addition, this year's jury includes Kunimasa Aoki, winner of the 2025 Craft Prize; designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, new creative directors at Loewe; and Sheila Loewe, president of the foundation, among others. The finalists and the specific location of the event will be announced early next year.
Fashion Network
3 days ago
- Business
- Fashion Network
Loewe opens registrations for ninth edition of its Craft Prize
The Loewe Foundation has officially opened the call for entries for its contemporary arts and crafts prize. The ninth installment of the competition promoted by the Spanish luxury house, Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, whose registration period will remain open until October 30, will be held in the spring of 2026 in Singapore. The award, created in 2016 by the Spanish firm in order to celebrate artistic merit, excellence and innovation in contemporary craftsmanship, is aimed at professional artists of legal age. The winner will be rewarded with a cash prize of 50,000 euros, while two special mentions of 5,000 euros each will also be awarded. "I am extraordinarily pleased to see how year after year the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize provides a platform for the promotion of exceptional talent. The competition rewards artists who are able to bring together pure creativity and a deep connection, reverence even, with their materials and culture. Craftsmanship represents the values we wish to pass on to the next generation: care, dedication and imagination. Precisely the gestures that shape the future," explained Sheila Loewe, president of the Loewe Foundation. The next edition will have a panel of experts made up of artists, curators and industry professionals, who will select the 30 finalists after evaluating aspects such as originality, technical excellence, personal vision, and innovation. New additions to the jury include Scott Chaseling, Nifemi Marcus-Bello, and Didi NG Wing Yin, finalists in the 2025 edition of the award. In addition, this year's jury includes Kunimasa Aoki, winner of the 2025 Craft Prize; designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, new creative directors at Loewe; and Sheila Loewe, president of the foundation, among others. The finalists and the specific location of the event will be announced early next year.
