Jonathan Anderson’s arrival at Dior has been some of the talked about inventive appointments within the vogue business; from the pink carpet robes worn by Jessie Buckley and Priyanka Chopra at the Golden Globes to his second menswear present which cut up opinion on-line.
But nothing has been anticipated fairly just like the Irish designer’s haute couture debut, going down right this moment at the Musee Rodin in Paris.
It is the clearest sign but of how Anderson plans to reshape one in every of vogue’s best-known homes, changing reverence with curiosity and custom with experimentation.
Late final yr, Anderson declared how he was “changing couture at Dior”.
It appears he’s carried out simply that with his first foray into formal tailoring – not by discarding its codes, however by reimagining what couture might be: modern and inquisitive.
Anderson instructed i-D final September that his first couture assortment for Dior can be “completely abstract” and a laboratory for “newness within form”. Couture, he stated, can be about experimentation: artwork, quantity, concepts.
One of Anderson’s beginning factors was clay. Before the present streamed, a ceramicist defined the context of what to anticipate of the gathering.
Ceramics, in spite of everything, solely exist as a result of the physique exists, they stated. They have to face, they’ve a neck – if we didn’t have the physique, we wouldn’t have summary artwork. The rigidity between flesh and kind animated the gathering.
Dresses appeared moulded moderately than sewn, skirts flared like bell-shaped vessels and bodices rose from the torso as if pulled upwards by hand – it was couture as sculpture.
Raw supplies had been Anderson’s muse. References ranged from iron meteorites to cyclamen flowers, from shells to swathes of grass. Nature’s logic – its precision, oddness and refusal for symmetry – was painstakingly translated into material.
Feathered skirts fell like plumage mid-moult; flecked capes echoed scattered petals; ruffled hems mimicked the torn edges of blooms.
Conical clutches resembled shells and baggage sprouted cascades of inexperienced, as if overgrown from the roots of the gown. There had been puma-headed purses and rounded metallic baggage that mimicked bumblebees and ladybirds.
Flowers, in fact, are Dior’s heritage motif. Since Christian Dior’s 1947 debut, they’ve been the home’s most enduring metaphor, carried by the romantic theatrics of John Galliano and the feminist florals of Maria Grazia Chiuri.
Anderson honoured that lineage whereas turning it on it’s head. His blooms weren’t ornamental however structural: constructed into silhouettes, erupting from seams, hovering across the physique like residing issues. Hydrangea earrings brushed shoulders and bustles fanned out like peacock tails. Dior as soon as once more was, because it all the time must be, “pretty”.
Colours affirmed the expected developments for the yr. Anderson prolonged the daring palette of his ready-to-wear assortment from September 2025: lime and lilac, fiery orange-red, powder blue whereas peppering in Dior’s delicate pinks.
These hues animated robes with bulbous ruching and layered panels, catching gentle on iridescent surfaces, as shimmering feathers clung to sculpted kinds.
Even footwear was reimagined within the context of couture. While excessive heels are often the go-to, metallic flats, sneakers and loafers confirmed that couture needn’t teeter on stilettos. Making flats glamorous does really feel fairly, if not belatedly, radical.
Knitwear, too, appeared in deconstructed wools and beneficiant, tactile materials – supplies thought-about unorthodox in couture, but right here elevated to one thing extra subtle. Anderson steered that feathers and silk are not any extra “high-end” than sheep’s wool; the worth lies in creativeness.
The closing seems featured sky-blue silk robes emblazoned with flowers, demonstrating restraint in tone however not in tailoring. The bridal gown – silk and chiffon, backless, with feathers fluttering down the bodice and right into a pluming skirt – was each romantic and otherworldly, as if grown moderately than made.
Sitting entrance row was former inventive director of Dior John Galliano. Galliano grew to become inventive director in 1996, the place he obtained widespread important approval for his Haute Couture and ready-to-wear collections, turning into a defining determine within the maison’s historical past.
During his tenure Galliano launched a number of legendary designs, together with the now iconic Dior Saddle bag, which debuted within the spring/summer time 2000 assortment.
Brand ambassador Jennifer Lawrence took Anderson’s ethos of mixing informal and couture, sitting entrance row in denims and a vest, with a structured wool coat and fur stole.
Alexa Chung and Josh O’Connor additionally sat entrance row, going informal in denims whereas channelling sophistication in Dior capes and deconstructed knitwear.
Like the natural kinds that impressed the present, the gathering took on a precision and element that may solely be present in nature, however Anderson definitely did his finest to copy it in vogue.
As Vivaldi’s Spring stuffed the mirrored room, it appeared the closing message was that couture is not about preserving magnificence primarily based on heritage however about letting it develop.