Perhaps it was the glitch-print hoodie, the balloon heels, or the ubiquity of those inflated sunglasses in street-style round-ups, but Loewe has just been named the hottest brand in the world by fashion tech firm Lyst. Based on a combination of search traffic, social engagement, and sales, it’s the first time the Spanish brand has taken the top position, dethroning Prada and Miu Miu in the process. According to Lyst, searches increased by 19 per cent over the past couple of months, a shift it credits to capturing “the imagination of different cohorts of customers” and to its “commitment to craftsmanship and creativity.”

Alongside Beyoncé’s spangled Renaissance bodysuits and the appointment of NCT’s Taeyong as a brand ambassador, Jonathan Anderson’s strange experiments in clothing – like the car-dress hybrids, egg-splat heels, and anthurium breastplates – are precisely the kind of visuals that travel well on the feed. As cerebral and avant-garde as Loewe’s collections are considered, the garments are also real-life memes: brash and artificial-looking objects that satire traditional taste values. And with front-row appearances from the cast of Succession, Anderson manages to position himself in the centre of viral internet cycles. 

The brand also unveiled its latest men’s campaign this morning, with Jamie Dornan and Omar Apollo dressed in Anderson’s AW23 collection – AKA the one with all the cherub wings and Winnie-the-Pooh styling – in a series shot by David Sims. Alongside the ad images, the duo were filmed reading books (Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and My Friend Leonard by James Frey) with their spines left visibly uncracked. What does it mean? What are those novels even about? Jonathan Anderson really makes you think! Click through the gallery above to see more of the campaign and revisit the collection here.