Paper flower gardens and neon mushrooms, Loewe's 'Crafted World' is rooted in heritage, innovation, and child-like wonder

An illuminated façade with neon mushrooms. A paper flower garden. A rainbow library of leathers. A grey silk 'car dress'. A whipped cream-like swirl of stoneware. And a staircase waiting to be covered in stickers.

These are among a cornucopia of creations, large and small, recently unveiled in Crafted World, the first major brand exhibition by the Spanish luxury brand Loewe, which is now open in Tokyo’s Harajuku district.

Step inside Loewe's Crafted World

Innovative, crafted, rooted in heritage and unwaveringly playful – these are all qualities that underpin the exhibition, which explores Loewe’s progressive approach to fashion, craft and culture since its 1846 establishment as a leather-making collective in Madrid.

The spatial journey was brought to life by Dutch studio OMA, spanning 1,300 square metres across two levels and expressed through a layered unfolding of spaces, corridors, staircases and immersive installations.

Crafted World initially debuted in Shanghai last year, before being modified for its new Tokyo home, complete with a sharpened focus on the brand’s deep ties with Japan, which began when Loewe opened its first retail space outside Europe in Tokyo in 1973.

It’s a journey that carefully unravels the DNA of Loewe – from its historical roots as leather-making specialists and the fruits of its respected Loewe Foundation Crafts Award through to its fashion collaborations and the imaginative imprint of the brand’s recently-departed creative director Jonathan Anderson.

Giulio Margheri, associate architect at OMA, tells Wallpaper*: 'When Loewe approached OMA in 2024, it was the brand’s first time working on an exhibition of this scale. They outlined a series of themes they wanted to explore, but these needed to be transformed into a cohesive experience and the content was yet to be defined.

'The exhibition is a journey into the world of Loewe. We worked on scripting a sequence that allows visitors to encounter all the key aspects of the brand through a series of distinct spatial experience.'

The experience begins before crossing the threshold: an illuminated block-like façade is transformed into an urban dialogue with Tokyo, with iconic Loewe objects, including floating red and white mushrooms, lit up in neon against a black backdrop.

Inside, the spatial experience flows through seven chapters, each with a different identity, texture and atmosphere. It kicks off with Born from the Hand, a space filled with visual stories exploring the history of the brand, through heritage objects, archive photography, architectural models and contemporary creations.

Early tools dating back to 1846 (awls, bevelers, burnishers, gougers, groovers, mauls) sit alongside century-old calfskin travel vanity cases and monochrome photography from around 1910 of the Madrid store and workshop on Calle del Principe.

As the timelines moves forward, there are replicated elements of the 1959 Madrid store designed by architect Javier Carvajal (from woven leather chairs to logos), sculptural 1980s perfume bottles and costumes worn by Rihanna and Beyoncé.

This segues smoothly into the Welcome to Spain section, passing through a terracotta-filled casa typical of Galicia, whose traditional weaving is applied to Loewe’s Bucket bags, and the playas of southern Spain, where seashells inspired raffia leaf bags.

Next up is The Atelier, with maze-like behind-the scenes glimpses of craftsmanship, including a library of tactile leathers, the geometry of deconstructed bags and explorations into the technology that underpins innovations such as leather marquetry, origami modelling and 3D printing.

The atmosphere tilts in the next space: The Castle Room has a softly-textured cartoon-like scenography of green hills, blue skies and white skies, with a 2m-high Howl’s Moving Castle bag, inspired by the iconic Studio Ghibli film and featured in a 2023 capsule collection.

Downstairs, United in Craft spans a serenely minimalist space with angular concrete-covered surfaces, showcasing a curated collection of craftsmanship (in clay, textiles, metal, grasses, lacquer), including works by Loewe Foundation Craft Prize winners.

Exhibits include the gentle lines and textured surfaces of British artist Jennifer Lee’s stoneware; the airy swirling ceramic abstractions of Japanese artist Takayuki Sakiyama; and the rich surface depth and organic curves of Kyoto-based Genta Ishizuka’s contemporary reimaginings of lacquer.

'I have been producing work with the desire to turn the transparency, depth and allure of the ‘gloss’ that lies within urushi (Japanese lacquer) into artworks,' explains Ishizuka, who won the 2019 prize. 'I was inspired to make this work when I saw oranges being sold in mesh bags at the supermarket. I believe that the sense of touch and sensibility of artists and craftsmen can permeate the gaps in modern standardised society.'

The exhibition shifts into the fashion cosmos in the next room, a bright white space with 54 looks from across the decades displayed on mannequins, alongside Loewe art collection works plus buzzy screens framing catwalk footage.

It concludes with Unexpected Dialogues, an immersive exploration into the creative worlds of five collaborators, each with their own room – from the dizzying scenescape of the New Mexico studio of potter Ken Price to a dreamy foray into the magical animal-dancing world of Japanese ceramicist duo Suna Fujita, culminating in a suspended flower garden, crafted from paper, inspired by the Arts & Crafts Movement tile and textile designs of British architect C.F.A Voysey, expressed in a collaboration with Tokyo-based studio edenworks.

For Sheila Loewe, president of the Loewe Foundation and fifth generation of the luxury house, the exhibition can be summed up in three words: heritage, playfulness and beauty.

'Every room brings me such joy and so many memories,' she tells Wallpaper*. 'The first room, which explores the history of Loewe, humbled me as I reflected on all my grandfather’s achieved in the early days of the company.'

Highlighting the timeless value of the handmade in the modern world, she adds: 'Craft is a universal language, it’s part of our collective history, it tells us where we come from and gives us a sense of belonging. By providing a global platform for these crafts at risk of extinction, we’re able to raise awareness and inspire a new generation to safeguard craft’s future.'

Crafted World Tokyo runs until 11 May craftedworld.loewe.com