It’s that time of the year where fans of both the venerated Japanese animation firm Studio Ghibli and Spanish luxury maison Loewe have the same cause to rejoice: the latest collection in their well-received collaboration is nearly here. This year marks the third – and final – time a film from Studio Ghibli’s oeuvre has been selected as the focal point for this joint project between the two craft-focused, spiritually similar maisons.
Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), a madcap, steam punk-ish number filled with magic and plenty of metamorphosis (both figurative and literal) serves as the linchpin for the upcoming collection, which launches in selected Loewe stores worldwide on Feb 2. (A pre-sale on Loewe’s website opens on Feb 1, allowing those registered exclusive access to the collection ahead of the launch. Selected items will only be available online. Register here.)
Key characters from one of Studio Ghibli’s most eccentric and beloved films, Howl’s Moving Castle, will make appearances across a variety of Loewe’s signatures, such as this Hammock bag.
For the uninitiated, Howl’s Moving Castle (loosely based on Diana Wynne Jones’ book of the same name), is set in a fictional kingdom at war, where a young, quiet milliner by the name of Sophie is caught up in a witch’s spiteful vengeance against the titular wizard, Howl, and thus cursed to take on an elderly woman’s appearance.
At its heart, despite all its eccentricities, the film retains many of Studio Ghibli’s running themes, such as being anti-war, environmentalism, a youth’s coming-of-age and a nuanced understanding that villainy and heroism are rarely one-dimensional.
The accompanying campaign, lensed by Juergen Teller, takes on a quirky, lighthearted tone to mirror the film’s ultimately uplifting message.
For Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson, Howl’s Moving Castle is one of his favourite Studio Ghibli works. “The world we are living in needs a counteract: not as an escape, but as a different outlook. This, to me, is what (Ghibli co-founder) Hayao Miyazaki’s animated films are about: a commentary on the moment and an alternative to it – always heartfelt, fulfilling, full of fantasy and sentiment,” says Anderson.
“This is also the reason why the final installment of our collaboration with Studio Ghibli feels more timely than ever…. The message is one of uplifting connections.”
The film’s titular Moving Castle contraption has been re-imagined into a quirky bag, using bits and remnants from Loewe’s atelier.
To be sure, the collection is a lovely one to sign off on this heartfelt collaboration. Many of Howl’s Moving Castle‘s key – and supplementary – characters turn up as motifs drawn as leather or shearling intarsia, turned into embroidery on leather or textile, decorated with crystal and stud inlays on leather. Extra effort has been paid to the ready-to-wear section as well, where for instance, downy black feathers blanket a cardigan, mimicking Howl’s famous transformation into a monstrous bird-like creature.
The film’s cute mascot, the fire demon Calcifer, also inspired a new scented candle in Loewe’s growing home scents range, a smoky fragrance with notes of incense, immortelle, patchouli, vetiver, roasted hazelnut, cardamom and elemi.
Here, a look at some of our favourite pieces from the collection:
