Jonathan Anderson’s Loewe days feel like a moment in time frozen in amber, like Tom Ford for Gucci, that fashion people will nerd out over forever. Fans collected his pieces, impractical though many of them were, like works of art, which are quite often what inspire him. (I would make a material sacrifice — like spending a full day on the phone with Verizon customer service — to know what he thought of the celeb art commentary at the Met Gala.)

In this month’s installment of “Retail Confessions,” in which luxury fashion salespeople talk about what selling the world’s most sought-after fashion to the world’s wealthiest customers is really like, we’re going inside the Jonathan Anderson Loewe frenzy.

“The peak was insane,” said a former North American store employee. “I’d never seen people buy like that. It was like, what's in the water?” Everyone needed the $450 anagram tank, a plain white cotton top with a little Loewe logo at the chest. “People were spending $400 on it without hesitation. That was kind of mind-blowing. It wasn't even really about knowing the brand history. It was, There's this new logo on the block, and I need to be wearing it.” Then there were the Puzzle bags, which increased in price by around $400 each year. “The holidays were crazy. People would say, ‘What colors do you have?’ You'd show them three colors and they'd say, ‘I'll take all of them.’”

Ahead, we discuss customers who spiraled because of the line to get into the store, the influencer who tried to return used shoes, and more.

Who was a typical Loewe customer?

Young influencer types who came in just wanting to see the tank top or the jeans. Then you had the rich kids — you weren't sure if they were just looking or actually buying, and their parents were footing the bill. I'd think, Oh my God, this is a $500 tank top, and you're going to dirty this in two seconds. And then you had your very classic Upper East Side woman who could easily spend $30,000 to $40,000 in one visit.

Did these customers all just have Jonathan Anderson fever?

I joined because I love his designs. I didn't know his biography. The Jonathan Anderson fanatics did — these people know everything about him. Sometimes they were schooling us. Those were the ones really investing heavily. As soon as Jonathan Anderson's departure was announced, one client who was top five globally completely dropped off.

How much would someone spend annually for that distinction?

Around $300,000 to $400,000.

The pre-orders were crazy. Sometimes we didn't get things to clients on the promised dates, and they still waited. Loewe runs like a small business in terms of production. There were many times when I took huge pre-orders and couldn't deliver for another six or seven months.

Within the company, when Jonathan showed the viral tomato clutch on social media, we were told, “This is not going to be made to order. It's just a response to the viral meme.” Later, we got word it was going to be made. People flocked to it. It's a $5,000 tomato clutch, and they couldn't keep up with the pre-orders, so we had to stop taking them. Our store only got around a dozen.

Fifty percent of Loewe's business is leather goods. I could probably sell 30 to 40 Puzzle bags in a month. You want to sell at least one a day.

Did you ever have anyone upset that they couldn't get a tomato clutch?

Very often.