When Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez announced in January that they would be departing as creative directors of Proenza Schouler, their brand of 23 years, fashion tongues had already been wagging that the two might be headed Loewe-wards. Today, the LVMH-owned Spanish house announced that the Proenza Schouler duo would indeed be taking over—replacing longtime creative director Jonathan Anderson, who stepped down earlier this month.
The two will oversee womenswear, menswear, leather goods and accessories, and will begin their appointment on April 7. In a statement, they said, “We are incredibly honored to join Loewe, a house whose values and mission align closely with our own. We look forward to working alongside its extraordinary teams and artisans, whose talent—under the exceptional creative direction of Jonathan Anderson—has shaped Loewe into the cultural force it is today.”
Freshly graduated from Parsons, McCollough and Hernandez quickly became fashion darlings; their entire senior thesis collection was picked up by Barneys New York. They spent the ensuing years dressing celebrities from Miley Cyrus to Natalie Portman, winning multiple CFDA awards, and inking an influential collaboration deal with Target. (Linkups with J Brand, Birkenstock, and Sorel followed suit.) In 2017, amid a precipitous rise in casual dressing, they unveiled PSWL (Proenza Schouler White Label), a “sister collection” of items like T-shirts and denim. “Inclusivity, gender neutrality, comfort, casualness—these are all things that are here to stay,” Hernandez told ELLE at the time.
Their expertise with accessories, like the hit PS1 bag that effectively owned 2010s street style, is likely part of what made them a draw for the leather goods-focused house, which has had its own successes with the Puzzle and Elephant bag styles—as well as more outré items, like Anderson’s viral popped-balloon shoe.
Additional reporting by Tasha Smith.
