Fashion (and perfume) campaigns are not always creatively interesting. This one is. Loewe creative director, Jonathan Anderson, has led a campaign that presents the brand’s Fall-Winter 21 collection in a very different format – as a newspaper edition, in a silver (metal) case, sent out to subscribers of a range of broadsheet newspapers*.
The campaign, A Show In The News, replaces the traditional runway show which was cancelled last month. The newspaper supplement and accompanying article document that the show did not take place and are centred around a character study by photographer, Fumiko Imano, of the model Freja Beha Erichsen. The design of the newspaper is executed by Loewe and Jonathan Anderson’s frequent collaborators, creative directors M/M Paris.
In keeping with a theme of the big reveal, the newspaper will also feature an exclusive preview of the first chapter from author, Danielle Steel’s, latest novel, The Affair. This references Victorian literary traditions, when famous works from authors such as Charles Dickens and Alexandre Dumas were serialised in newspapers and takes place in the fashion industry. Readers are invited to assemble the book themselves, by folding the newspaper and cutting out the book pages.
Jonathan Anderson has long admired Danielle Steel as a prolific writer, and someone who has encouraged multiple generations to enjoy reading. The intention of A Show In The News and the chapter preview, is to reach beyond a fashion-focused audience, by telling a story that collides fiction with reality and invites in a world of curious, interested readers.
A limited-edition version of the newspaper will also be sent to guests who would have attended the runway show in person, including friends of the brand, select clients and press. The personalised metal case will contain an engraved paper knife enabling recipients to piece together the first section of The Affair, as well as a wood print by M/M Paris encased in an embossed leather piece.
* Le Figaro and Le Monde in France, El Mundo of Spain, The Times of London, The New York Times, and Japan’s The Asahi Shimbun, will all carry the slender volume, on the date (5 March) that the LOEWE runway show was scheduled to take place. The supplement is expected to reach 300,000 subscribers.
