《LOEWE @ The Granda Bag》

Loewe presents the Granada bag, a tribute to the sensual geometry of the Spanish city’s luxurious 15th-century palace, the Alhambra. When Stuart Vevers went to Granada for the first time, he was following in the footsteps of the fashionable 19th century travellers that had flocked to this southern Spanish city to enjoy its romantic charms, taking home with them tales of exotic landmarks like the Alhambra. Today, Granada’s ability to seduce those who visit it is still intact. This is precisely what happened to Loewe’s art director. What he saw among its gardens, Nazari towers and intricate latticework inspired him to create the Granada, the bag which embodies the essence of Loewe’s pre-autumn 2012 collection. With that Loewe brought the mini "Alhambra" to Hong Kong and held a "The Granada" Bag cocktail event recently.

The palaces of Granada continue to enchant us because the most skilful hands of their time live on in their construction. The same is true of the Granada bag, an object instilled with more than 150 years of Loewe’s history of leather craft. Thus the past serves as a springboard into the future.

  

  

  

 

The dualities inherent to Andalusian architecture – the interplay between indoors and outdoors, geometry and sensuality, richness and austerity, that are realised in their highest form in the Alhambra – are all present in the bag. It is like a Spanish Muslim palace or a typical Granadian orchard (carmen): a construction where everything that matters takes place behind closed doors. Although its exterior is exceptional, with metals covered with exotic skins and stitching as a finishing touch, much of its appeal is hidden from public view. The bag’s exterior is made of calf leather and lined with napa. The feeling created by the touch of this skin every time your hand reaches inside is a pleasure reserved for the woman who carries it. Similarly the full impact of the Alhambra’s splendour can only be appreciated when you set foot inside it.

The bag, which comes in two sizes and nine colours: Black, Jade, Mink, Midnight Blue, Coral, Pearl Grey, Purple, Magenta, and Dark Gold. It combines the functional and the chic, a simplicity of line with an opulent and dynamic skin. Symmetry, always present in Nazari buildings of southern Spain, plays a key role in the design of the bag, giving it a profound sense of balance. The adjustable handle makes it suitable for different occasions and times of the day.

  The photographs for the Granada bag campaign were taken both at night and during the day, again playing on the duality inherent in Andalusian architecture. The settings were chosen for their emblematically Granadian aesthetics: the Rodriguez Acosta Foundation, the Misericordia Carmen and the Cuarto Real de Santo Domingo. The bag looks perfectly at home among their coffered ceilings and ornate tiles.

The Granada bag will be presented at the city’s Music and Dance Festival which takes place in June, continuing Loewe’s long-standing involvement with Spanish culture and its fascination with the Alhambra.