Tea Time at Loewe- Milan Design Week 2025

By Isabelle Exsted

For Milan Design Week 2025, Loewe presented their ninth consecutive exhibition for Salone del Mobile, thoughtfully drawing a collection of ceramics, porcelains, and metals from 25 intercontinental artists. The event ran from April 8-13th at Palazzo Citterio in the heart of Brera Design District. 

Pieces played with the adaptation of structure, material, and glaze behind the iconic sprout renowned for steeping leaves in boiling water. A delicate touch on the contemporary evolution of ceramics with a pure and individualistic approach.  One that questioned common perceptions of the everyday item’s heritage and function. 

Leading into the heathered gray space sat dispersed cube stands. Each held an assortment of lengthy/skimmed and coiled cylinder candles of a burnt orange and mustard yellow palette.  

After the candle installation, visitors were welcomed into a vast, dimly lit warehouse guiding down to a heavy and lengthy gray cement table, fully illuminated to grasp attention to the centerpieces: teapots. Yes, teapots. The devotion of exceptional craft and timely precision resembled a scattered kitchen to the blind eye.

“It’s hard to imagine a more universal object than the teapot. Familiar across the world (tea is the most consumed drink after water) the humble pot can be both mundane yet magnificent, with a sprawling global history stretching across centuries and continents.” -LOEWE

One notable centerpiece invited commentary; a long centerpiece with teeny teacups lurking on the side handles. Lilac, aqua, fuchsia, and navy effortlessly brushed on a white earthy clay centerpiece along with a candidly written sign, “A feeling of something irretrievably lost. A home to which you cannot return which maybe never was.” (Tommaso Corvi Mora)

One particular clip via Loewe’s Instagram captures Corvi-Mora fully focused: carefully stroking the piece with his left hand, murmuring, “Steady.”

The collection was deemed industrial contemporary, with a stern minimalist color palette. Gray, white, cream, brown, and so forth.

Pieces allotted their presence to be noted through shape and texture: coils, crumbled clusters, and folds. Meticulous paper-thin floral embellishments stuck on a teapot like an array of perky butterflies (Naoto Fukasawa) and a bumpy ivory piece whose shape mimicked a bluejay. 

Nonetheless, “ duck”  teapots were a collection feature. A furry duck, a porcupine, and a dog of a wide and circular form symmetrically lined. The sole indication of them classifying as teapots were the braided looped handle and mouths with teeny sprouts poking out. 

Artists made their perspectives known through characters like a porcelain doll with two faces immersed in giant red tongues (Spanish Artist Laia Arqueros, “Demanding a woman’s voice to be heard”).

The entire assortment encouraged the viewer to be present through the luminous glaze and ideologies behind the charming hand-built pieces. Or simply by inspecting the teapots’ construction and wondering: “Where can I pour my tea?” All presented a pleasant take on Loewe’s merge of artistry and fashion.

In coherence with the theme, the collection presented naturally deprived elements incorporated in the work. A minuscule sunflower presented itself as a chunky metallic silver bottom and long leafy lime green leaf elements spanned out. To supplement the exhibition, LOEWE TEAPOTS offered a limited-edition collection of tea charms and homewares like the silver glaze sunflower piece in collaboration with Spanish artisans and Kaikado. The limited edition teapot collection was inspired by ceramic tiles that mimic CASA LOEWE storefronts. Loewe also offered a limited-edition Earl Gray Candle fusion of blended black tea and bergamot oil. 

For the entire exhibition, Under all the pieces provided “price upon request,”  and a table upstairs for buyers to take home the pieces rich in heritage.

The offering served as a smooth transition to the outside courtyard. Bushy lime grass wrapped around the outside of LOEWE’s teeny corner glass house. Looking on the inside reflected the ideal tea time: a rectangular wooden table with glass pitchers, basket totes, and satchels set for each placement in front of a crisp white wall and LOEWE in all black caps. 

Despite this, the candid grandee of the exhibition was the LOEWE rectangular file folder. 

The backing possesses a mere drawstring, envelope-like closure guarded by a well-crafted woven strap. 

The front cover depicts a watercolor sketch of deep violet elderberries with gracefully drawn leafy branches. LOEWE is bolded, capitalized, and shimmering in metallic letters top and centered. 

The portrait is titled “Branch of an Elder with Berries” by Beatrix Potter, Courtesy of Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd.

It wouldn’t be complete without a nod to the prima donna file folder. Numerous women and men trotted up and down the streets of the design district, lugging the carrier at the hip. For the innumerable designer week freebies, the consensus of the LOEWE bag was vastly desirable. It’s not a Puzzle Bag, but it enables the pleasure of owning a piece of the brand. 

Loewe’s Instagram announced the event by showcasing cinematic closeups of the teapots with a fun “Tea for Two” anthem by Justin Vivian Bond. Loewe raised anticipation for the event via social media by welcoming us into the artists in their realm: 3D and paper sketching, hand building, throwing, burnishing, incising, brushing, and inspecting their work in what they define as perfection. 

Conclusively, through the well-intricate teapots, graceful tea garden, and flourishing satchels, LOEWE was victorious at Milan Design Week 2025. Its canny customer loyalty efforts and silent branding made an impression despite being shy of a month after former Creative Director Jonathan Anderson departed the brand (after 11 years). The teapot exhibition and tasting were notably Anderson’s closing stint.