Don't Be Fooled, The Loewe Amazona 180 Is Not What It Looks Like. The most interesting bag of 2026 has a story worth knowing says Lauren Cunningham
As any avid fashion fan will know, 2026 is shaping up to be the year of fashion firsts, and Loewe's latest launch sits high on that list. The Amazona 180 is the first bag designed for the house by co-creative directors Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, and it's been getting plenty of attention. Though not solely, it should be said, because Kate Moss, Sarah Pidgeon, Bella Hadid, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sarah Jessica Parker have already been snapped with one on their arm.
What's causing the real commotion is the bag's construction: a top handle, shoulder strap and detachable crossbody strap all on one side only. All of it purposefully done in service of the bag's most talked-about feature, namely, that it's been designed to be carried undone. Open. Unzipped. Every pickpocket's dream, or so I thought, until I actually got my hands on one.
Because the Amazona 180 is, it turns out, a master of deception. While the Spring/Summer ‘26 runway had us believe the unzipped bag bared everything to the elements, holding it in person revealed something altogether more considered. A suede inner divider conceals an entire internal compartment - large enough to house a laptop, phone, headphones and keys - sealed shut with a magnetic clasp that's invisible unless you know exactly where to look. The undone aesthetic, it seems, is a carefully constructed illusion. A subtle flash of the iconic Loewe emblem and nothing more. No valuables actually up for grabs. Cause for concern? Eliminated.Which, frankly, is exactly what you'd expect from a label that carries the phrase ‘craft is an art, and imagination a tool’.
Photography and video Lauren Austin
Published on 5th June 2026
IT'S STILL SIMPLY AN EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD WORK BAG
With thanks to Shangri-La The Shard, London
180th anniversary
The Amazona 180 also marks something rather significant on the brand's timeline, this year being Loewe's 180th anniversary. A milestone worth acknowledging, especially since this bag simultaneously revives and refreshes one of the label's most beloved archival styles, originally launched in 1975.
That original Amazona was itself a bag with a story worth telling, arriving at a monumental moment in Spanish history during the abolition of the Permiso Marital, the law that required women to obtain official permission from a father or husband to work, open a bank account or travel. In response, the first Amazona was conceived as a workplace bag, created to support the busy lives of Loewe's customers while upholding the savoir-faire the house has always been known for. A bag for a woman who no longer needed anyone's permission to go anywhere.
It comes as little surprise, then, that the 2026 iteration of this renegade accessory carries its own quiet complexity. The hidden compartments feel less like a design flourish and more like a nod to that layered history, something extra beneath the surface, there for those who look closely enough.
And, practically speaking, it’s still simply an exceptionally good work bag. The medium size (22.5cm x 28cm x 11cm) - my personal preference after spending a day with it - holds considerably more than first meets the eye, and the large (27cm x 34.5cm x 14cm) is even more generous. Sleek enough to take into a boardroom, relaxed enough for a weekend, and interesting enough to prompt the inevitable ‘where is that from?’ from a stranger on the tube. Or perhaps a ‘your bag is undone’.
Expect to see the best-dressed person in your office swan in with one before summer is out. And if that person ends up being you, well, you’re welcome.
