For a young designer starting in a new role at a storied fashion house, you might think the emphasis would be on newness and moving forward, rather than looking back.

But Jonathan Anderson (J-Dubs to some) has kicked off his first season at the Spanish leather good label Loewe by doing just that – and very publicly so, in the ad campaign released today.

Using images shot by Steven Meisel for Vogue Italia in the 90s, Anderson presents new designs inspired by pictures that are now part of the canon – a beachy young Maggie Rizer stares out of one shot of An Interpretation; another features a group of young models, again from 1997, alongside a sandy suede tote and hobo – inspired, it is suggested, by the shots. Another image features the Loewe branding irons, which stamp each item from the house with its hallmark curlicued logo.

Is it advertising for the Tumblr generation, dredging classic images for a new and younger audience? Is it a sort of corporate Pinterest? Does it matter if that's case? Probably not. It's an accurate representation of the way people are inspired these days, the way they learn their visual history and decide their personal aesthetics. And it's the way they broadcast all of these.

Or is Anderson suggesting that old is the new new, and that we're running out of space for ingenuity? Again, probably not: when it comes to outside-the-box thinking, Anderson has that in spades.