Events - 7/26/24
On July 25 LOEWE opened its first CASA LOEWE in Cheongdam, Seoul. To celebrate, creative director Jonathan Anderson hosted a cocktail party in store, followed by a party at Songeun Art Space with special performances by Silica Gel and Rain.
Attendees included Global Brand Ambassadors Greta Lee and Taylor Russell, Brand Ambassadors Giselle and Lim Jiyeon alongside Lee Jong-suk, S.coups from Seventeen, Jang Kiyong, Yoo Teo, Nikki Lee, Ko Hyunjung, and Lee Joobeen.
Located in the vibrant Gangnam district, CASA LOEWE Seoul’s 433 sqm space will have a full offering of women’s and men’s ready to wear, accessories, bags, eyewear, shoes, small leather goods, scarves and shawls, home scents, and a series of special, store-specific products across three large, light-filled floors.
With its bright green ceramic façade and vast sculptural installation, CASA LOEWE Seoul Cheongdam is a distinctive destination: embodying the singular visual language of creative director Jonathan Anderson’s CASA LOEWE store concept, where a blend of fashion, art, craft and design furniture create the eclectic feel of an art collector’s home.
The façade is crafted from ceramic tiles handmade in Spain, a bold volume of colour and texture that sits in dialogue with the store’s urban context and surrounding greenery.
Inside, these tiles recur in shades of blue, brown, and green complemented by cool expanses of concrete and the warmth of oak, brass, and marble.
Widespread use of glass brings an abundance of natural light and generates a continuous flow between exterior and interior.
The curated furniture selection includes Berin Club chairs upholstered in custom felt, angular Utrecht and Steltman chairs designed by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld, and George Nakashima’s American black walnut and canvas Conoid Cushion chairs.
A series of signature LOEWE puffer benches showcase the brand’s sophisticated leatherwork, whilst floating black terrazzo tables, burnt wood podiums, and antique ceramic vessels add tactile dimensions.
Underfoot, artisanal wool carpets made in Spain reproduce tapestries by British textile artist John Allen, the abstracted scenery of Peveril of the Peak, White Horse with River, and The River Reaches the Sea at once vivid and transporting.
Meticulously selected works from LOEWE’s anthology of international art and craft are also woven into the store’s design.
Japanese artist Tanabe Chikuunsai IV’s Source of Creation (2024) is an extraordinary focal point, the multi-level bamboo sculpture intended to symbolise the dynamic interaction between fashion and art: two tree trunk-style cylinders in the central atrium on the ground floor representing these adjacent creative realms.
These trunks grow up into the first floor where they intertwine, embodying a harmonious fusion of forms.
Two LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize winners are present; Japanese ceramicist Eriko Inazaki’s 2023-winning ceramic sculpture Metanoia (2019) and Korean artist and weaver Dahye Jeong’s 2022-winning horsehair vessels A Time for Sincerity (2021) are united, despite their disparate forms, exploring intricacy and innovation alongside traditional techniques.
2019 finalist Youngsoon Lee’s Cocoon Top Series – 1 (2019), an uneven stack of Korean mulberry paper pots, will also be permanently housed at CASA LOEWE Seoul Cheongdam.
Other pieces on display include a collection of British potter John Ward’s subtly beautiful vases (1980), South African ceramicist and artist Zizipho Poswa’s glazed earthenware Queen Nandi Bhebhe, Zulu (2022), British artist Ro Robertson’s multimedia Torso II (2023), German artist Raphaela Simon’s painting Sahne (Cream) (2021) and British artist Poppy Jones’ atmospheric oil and watercolour on suede work First Light (2023).
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