BARCELONA
“ Wherever we are, we’re strong”
Luxury, design and modernity are the cornerstones of one of the world’s most prominent fashion companies. You see, Loewe evolves with the passage of time and is committed to revamping its stores.
The reopening of its Barcelona location, designed by architect Peter Marino, was followed by the Loewe Gallery in the same city. Le CITY deluxe had a conversation with CEO Lisa Montague, who went a step further and explained the firm’s strategies and new projects to our magazine.
What projects has the brand focused on recently?
The first thing was to deal with enhancing quality, working on our leather products. As well as refurbishing the entire store network, as, of the 162. Today, we renovated 31 stores Peter Marino concept (including the Paseo de Gracia) and we will renew for the remainder of the year, 30 more stores. We have a lot to do in the next three years across the entire network, but there’s no stopping now: we’re looking to expand into new markets.
What about India?
I think India is going to be an extremely interesting market. For the meantime, we’re concerned with making sure the London, Paris, New York and Rome markets are covered.
“The brand’s essence has a lot to do with TOUCH”
As CEO of Loewe, what has been your biggest challenge?
Refurbishing our stores as quickly as possible to send a coherent message about the brand while it’s being revamped. We’re not re-launching the brand, just updating it. We’re focused on getting to the crux of the matter, delving into the brand to find out why people connect so strongly with it. What it intends to express, and its values. Expressing them coherently in highly distinct markets around the world, at the same time, and
www.loewe.com
the investment this requires; that’s the biggest challenge. Getting it done quickly!
What does the Loewe Gallery represent?
The Barcelona store is our most important flagship location and currently the only one large enough to hold all of our collections. Therefore we’re firmly rooted in Barcelona. We are a Spanish brand, and naturally a lot of people regard us as the number one luxury Spanish company. While we were looking for a location, the two projects merged in one of those remarkable strokes of fate to form a gallery, museum and interactive experience. We happened upon this place as a temporary location for our store, but we enjoyed working here so much that we sought to find some way of keeping it. We were astounded by how well it suited the project, so we quickly brought the two concepts together.
What are the next steps for Loewe?
The great thing about Loewe is that it’s a business opportunity. It’s a brand-name that has 166 years of history, is highly esteemed in its own markets, strong in Japan, with a substantial current volume and immense growth in Asia. While we don’t have locations in a considerable part of the world, wherever we are, we’re strong SUMMER 2012
In your opinion, what sets Loewe apart from
other bag brands?
The brand’s essence has a lot to do with feel. At our stores, this essence is expressed through the feel of the materials and the colours, the quality of the leather, the way in which it is worked, how it expresses the brand’s personality. We don’t showcase luxury products behind plate glass; they’re meant to be touched by the customers, something which is patent when you pick up the bags, because they’re light, smooth, tactile... and the colour lends the brand an identity. It also has to do with the light in Spain and the remarkable skill of the country’s local artisans.