Loewe x Howl’s Moving Castle

The Studio Ghibli Partnership

The Loewe x Howl's Moving Castle collaboration represented the third and final chapter in LOEWE's partnership with the legendary Japanese animation studio, Studio Ghibli. Previous collaborations had featured My Neighbor Totoro (2021) and Spirited Away (2022), both of which were "unequivocal hits" according to industry coverage. Creative Director Jonathan Anderson described Howl's Moving Castle as "one of my favorite [Hayao] Miyazaki creations."

Why This Project Was Initiated

The collaboration aimed to bring together two brands united by their shared passion for craft, storytelling, and beauty. The Oscar-nominated 2004 film, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, tells a story of loyalty and compassion against a backdrop of magic, imposing technology, and the destructive effects of war—themes that Anderson found "incredibly resonating" in the contemporary moment.

Project Goals

• Connect LOEWE fans to the magic of the movie through an interactive digital experience
• Create a character-finding personality quiz that would drive engagement and social sharing
• Support the global launch of the Howl's Moving Castle capsule collection
• Complement physical retail activations at Selfridges London, Paris, Madrid, and other locations

The Challenge

Working with such beloved source material presented unique challenges. As Viv Greywoode, Head of Design at Stink Studios, explained: "Any new animation or adaptation with the story was obviously a definite no-no." The team had to honor Studio Ghibli's iconic style while maintaining visual consistency with the film that fans know intimately.

The Solution

Stink Studios created an interactive mobile experience that takes users on a journey through six handcrafted scenes from the film. For the first time, users could interact with iconic moments from Howl's Moving Castle, moving through scenes and making decisions as they go. The digital experience incorporated still scenes from the film with additional animation introduced by the designers.

User Experience Flow

1. Users access the experience via a custom QR code featuring Calcifer
2. The interface transports users through the Moving Castle by spinning a magical circular dial—a direct reference to the film's iconic moving castle entrance
3. Each scene is introduced with a quote from one of the characters
4. Users make instinctive choices based on scenarios from the story
5. Choices are rated on a scale from "greed to generosity"
6. The backend logic determines which of 8 characters users match with
7. Users receive exclusive shareable assets featuring their matched character

Possible Character Results

• Sophie
• Howl
• Calcifer
• Markl
• Heen
• Turnip Head
• The Witch of the Waste
• The Castle itself

Design Philosophy

The team prioritized simplicity and detail-crafting: "We just made each interaction as simple as possible, and spent a great deal of time crafting the details to ensure it felt intuitive." The experience invited users to "let your heart guide you" through scenes that could be interacted with through simple yet playful actions.

Technology Stack

• TypeScript
• WebGL
• Pixi.js (2D WebGL rendering engine)
• React

Technical Approach

The interactive mobile platform featured branching narrative logic delivering personalized character reveals based on user input choices. The experience was built as a mobile-first application, accessible via QR code scanning from in-store displays.

Social Media Performance

• Content received tens of thousands of likes across LOEWE's TikTok and Twitter accounts
• Generated over 1 million views combined
• High engagement rates consistent with Loewe's status as a TikTok leader among luxury brands

Industry Recognition

• FWA Site of the Day (February 4, 2023)
• FWA Site of the Month (February 2023)
• FWA Site of the Year - People's Choice Award (2023) - Selected through international public vote from 365 SOTD winners and 12 SOTM finalists
• Webby Award Honoree - Best Multimedia Storytelling (2024)
• Campaign Tech Awards Finalist

Press Coverage Featured in major design and fashion publications including:

• It's Nice That
• Creative Review
• Dezeen
• Dazed
• Hypebeast
• Highsnobiety
• WWD
• The FWA
• Creative Boom
• Marketing Mag

Brand Impact

The campaign contributed to Loewe's position as "the world's hottest brand" according to the Lyst Index rankings in subsequent quarters. Among luxury brands on TikTok, Loewe has the highest interaction levels and views.