LOEWE Crafted World Exhibition in Harajuku, Tokyo

Loewe's singular playfulness. 

LOEWE Crafted World: A World of Craft showcases LOEWE's avant-garde approach to fashion and the culture of craft that has been passed down through the generations. The exhibition opened for the first time in Shanghai in 2024 as a traveling exhibition that travels the world. 

This March 2025, the LOEWE Crafted World exhibition opens in Harajuku, Tokyo. Japan was the first country where LOEWE opened a store outside of Europe, and in 1973 it opened its first store at the Japan bashi Mitsukoshi main store. Since then, LOEWE and Japan have enjoyed a rich cultural dialogue.

The "Born from the Hand" room tells the story of Loewe's evolution, starting in 1846, when Loewe was founded as a group of artisans in a leather workshop. Key products such as early bespoke leather items and the first model of the iconic Amazona, flamenco and puzzle bags, as well as architectural models, archival photographs and advertisements, works by Pablo Picasso and Pedro Almodóvar that symbolize the spirit of the times, as well as recent collaborations with Anthea Hamilton, costumes for Rihanna, Beyoncé and the 2024 Met GalaTrace the trajectory of LOEWE through a variety of exhibitions.

In the "Welcome to Spain" room, you can look out the window at the diverse landscapes and craft traditions of Loewe's home country of Spain, as well as the designs that emerged from them. Through the ceramic works of Pablo Picasso, one of Spain's leading artists, this exhibition depicts various scenes in each window, shedding light on the importance of craft in his creation, which is often overlooked. Terracotta-tiled houses from Galicia, beaches in southern Spain sunbathed with raffia bags inspired by seashells and roasters of chestnuts by Laia Arcelos, the Mediterranean Sea with creatures from the Paulazuibiza collection that embodies Loewe's free spirit, and a fantastical forest of flowers, plants and birds transformed into sunglasses, leather charms and pouches.

In the Loewe Atelier room, you'll go behind the scenes to show you how Loewe's iconic bags came to life. Beginning with a library of leather, it progresses through the process of cutting, trimming, painting and assembling, revealing hundreds of hours of prototyping and testing that goes into creating the tools that artisans use to cut by hand and the bags that will be loved for generations to come. As you explore the labyrinthine atelier, you'll delve deeper into innovative techniques such as caviar embroidery, leather marquetry, origami-like modeling techniques and even 3D printing, and experience the forefront of LOEWE craftsmanship.

In the center of the "Castle Room" is the "Howl's Moving Castle Bag", which has grown to a height of 2 meters. The original bag was designed for Loewe's 2023 capsule collection, inspired by Studio Ghibli classics. The exhibition also shows how LOEWE ateliers use the art of craft to recreate surreal architecture that has gone down in cinematic history. The giant "Howl's Moving Castle Bag" combines elements of LOEWE's iconic bag. For example, the hammock panels, the wavy details of the flamenco clutch and the Goya inner pocket are also incorporated, as well as miniature Amazonas and bracelet pouches. The moment you step into this fantastical space, everyone will be mesmerized as if by magic.

The "Solidarity through Craft" room focuses on the joy of making things with your hands and LOEWE's efforts to support crafts around the world. As an example, the LOEWE Foundation will introduce the support program provided by the LOEWE Foundation to protect the technology of the Onishi family, who have been making tea kettles in Kyoto for 400 years, and to support the development of the next generation. In this room, the winners of the annual LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize are displayed, as well as videos that tell the story behind each work. The beautiful monochromatic ceramics of the Ming and Qing dynasties, which inspired the 2023 Chinese monochrome collection, as well as projects such as blankets, baskets, weaves, chairs and chestnut roasters presented at the Salone del Mobile in Milan will also be presented. On these projects, LOEWE has collaborated with tapestry artists from Ecuador, ribbon artisans from India, basket craftsmen from South Africa, bamboo craftsmen from China, as well as contemporary artists such as Álvaro Burlington and Kelis Wyn Evans. There will also be a restored basket work from the 2022 Milano Salone exhibition "Circulating Creativity and Craft, Beyond."

The "Fashion Without Limits" room is a space where you can witness the exquisite craftsmanship, sculptural forms, playful trompe l'oeil effects and unexpected materials found in Jonathan Anderson's collections since he took over as creative director of LOEWE in 2013. In this exhibition, 54 looks from the men's and women's collections are displayed on mannequins on a pedestal and arranged to interact with selected works of art from the LOEWE Art Collection. Works with bold silhouettes reminiscent of Jonathan Anderson's designs include William Turnbull's bronze sculpture Idol 4 (1956), Yang Hae-gyu's textile mobile The Intermediate – Dangling Hairy Hug (2018), and Gigifo Posula's glazed ceramic work Mireille Kamwanya, Congo (2022) will be exhibited. In addition, seven vertical screens display runway footage, creating an immersive feeling as if the models were walking through the show, adding an extra layer of dynamism to the space.

"Unexpected Dialogues" consists of five enchanting rooms that immerse you in the world of rich imagination, which has been the inspiration for LOEWE's collaborations over the past decade. The exhibition area features a recreation of ceramic master Ken Price's New Mexico atelier, as well as a small room with fairytale-like scenes hidden in a peephole by Japan ceramic unit Suna Foujita. There will also be a three-dimensional room with Joe Brainard's collages and a fantastical space that invites you to the dreamlike world of Studio Ghibli. Finally, visitors will be enveloped in a flower garden that sways in the air, reinterpreting tile and textile designs by Charles Voise, a leading architect of the British Arts and Crafts movement, and created in collaboration with Tokyo-based creative studio Edenworks.

Watch Rei Shito's experience here:

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