What’s Happening With Jonathan Anderson’s Namesake Brand?

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Headlines have finally decreed the longtime industry rumor: Jonathan Anderson has been appointed the sole creative director for Dior. He will be responsible for womenswear, menswear, couture, and accessories, a feat few have managed aside from legends like Karl Lagerfeld and Christian Dior. Anderson has already cemented himself as one of the greatest design talents of our generation and hopes remain high for his Dior debut. But what will become of the brand that bears his name?

He has abdicated his throne at Loewe, but the Northern Irish designer is planning to stay on with JW Anderson—though little information regarding plans has been released. However, recent Instagram posts about a collection called “New Beginnings” hint at a rebrand. The JW Anderson account has released a series of carousels that conjure a fully fledged lifestyle brand—and one that looks a lot like the Loewe of the past few years.

First, there’s a literal shift to reveal more decadent packaging and a new logo—the “W” now sits in line with the “J” where it was previously raised. Then, there’s the introduction of new categories. Anderson has long touted an affinity for his garden. Here, we see imagery depicting antique-looking shovels and gardening forks that bear the JW Anderson logo. Another snap shows a ceramic that looks startlingly similar to that of Loewe’s famous vegetable candles—just swap yesterday’s tomato for today’s lemon.

Over the past five years, Anderson honed in on surrealism at Loewe, exemplified in pieces like a dress where swaths of fabric appear to squeeze cherry red balloons to their bursting point. But there’s also an elegance to it—and the boost that comes with the financial backing of LVMH. Despite objective overlap with Loewe, JW Anderson, the brand, has long hosted the designer’s more experimental notions—like hoodies made of what looked like Play-Doh in Spring 2024 or the polarizing pigeon clutch. The newly released J.W. Anderson images show a polished whimsy somewhere imminent in these new items wrought with luxury like patterned silk shorts and suede, ruffled flats next to the brand’s signature Loafer bag, released just last year.

What Anderson did with Loewe, after he was appointed creative director in 2013, was magical. Not only did he awaken a new creative spirit in the fashion sphere, he also turned the struggling Spanish leather goods house into one of the most desirable brands on the planet. Loewe’s sales went from approximately €230 million in 2014 to an estimated €2 billion.

Aside from dazzling runway shows, Loewe has a roster of ambassadors plucked from the coolest pools of young talent, like Ayo Edebiri, Josh O’Connor, and Greta Lee. Their campaigns feature said ambassadors alongside powerhouse stars, like Daniel Craig and the late Maggie Smith, dripping in Loewe swag and expertly reimagined by photographer Juergen Teller. The Puzzle bag and Flamenco clutch became must-buys. The brand launched home fragrance in 2020, their plant-scented candles housed in ceramics akin to ancient Greek drinking vessels have become fodder for Instagram clout chasers—and likely didn’t hurt margins. In the home goods sphere, they also sell blankets, cushions, towels, and more. Essentially, he built an all-consuming lifestyle brand, and we bought into it.

Now, there’s a void left by his Loewe exodus. Ex-Proenza Schouler and current Loewe creative directors Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough have many of the same modern design sensibilities, but will likely (and should) usher in some form of a new era. And Anderson has new house codes to interpret at Dior, even though he’ll surely bring his quintessential funk to the storied maison.

We’ve already conjectured that in this most recent series of designer musical chairs, where customer loyalty will fall is up for debate. Will fans (namely those who shop) remain with the brand, the creative director, or just find something that looks like what they want—see customers flocking to old Cèline lookalike brands. JW Anderson technically checks two of those boxes, minus the top-tier Dior price point.

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