Jonathan Anderson's Dior Couture Comes Into Focus

The garden of Musée Rodin today was built out with a giant black Dior structure. Inside, fans whirred at maximum speed while guests like Sabrina Carpenter, Pharrell, and Naomi Watts took their seats amongst a forest of ferns. It has been officially one year since Jonathan Anderson debuted at the helm of Dior, so despite the fact that we are all now more aware of what we're going to get, excitement still feels ripe in the air. Starting first with menswear, and then haute couture (I spotted some of today's guests wearing his Spring/Summer 2026 pieces today), we've been able to see the full spectrum of what Anderson is capable of in his Dior, and it’s obvious that fashion’s golden child is triumphant in breathing new life into the storied house.

Today, the starting point for Anderson's Haute Couture collection was the work of American sculptor Lynda Benglis, who transformed two-dimensional materials through knotting, pleating, and molding—much as Anderson did throughout this collection. The first signs of Benglis' influence appeared in the opening look, where a gold pleated hat formed a helmet-like silhouette around the model's head. From there, Anderson wove those ideas into the Dior codes he had been building throughout his first year at the house. A hand-pleated silver lamé dress was draped into a bow, recalling Benglis' 1989 work Toyopet Crown, crafted from stainless steel mesh and aluminum. Elsewhere, a strapless cocktail dress in light-gray metallic satin resembled hammered silver, while motifs from her Peacock Series were reinterpreted on silk evening gowns fastened with oversized beaded hand fans. For Fall/Winter 2027 Couture, Anderson interpreted the relationship between art and fashion more directly than in previous seasons, translating Benglis' work into the language of Dior.

On the note of the Dior fantasy, some standout silhouettes: The Bar Jacket was offered in white wool-silk and embroidered with eucalyptus foliage, a silk chiffon coat was layered over top to create a translucent effect. Dior grey was incorporated into great big tweed coats and pleated knit ensembles that flipped when kicked forward. Here, Anderson folded Dior's familiar codes into a broader cultural conversation. His research into Lynda Benglis led him to the artist's time in Gujarat during the 1970s, and from there to 18th-century chintz—the hand-painted and block-printed cotton textiles that profoundly influenced European decorative arts. The reference surfaces on miniature Lady Dior bags, reproduced with the help of a specialist dealer.

There were plenty of pieces in the collection that could easily translate into everyday wardrobes: hammered silk pants, strappy sandals, heavy coats with frayed edges. But its strongest moments were the ones only couture could produce: floral motifs dangling from the hip of a hand-beaded skirt, a fully-embellished turquoise suit with beaded thread charms, the permission to dream of a world in which fashion is not simply for function. Throughout the years, this is what Dior couture has done so well—creating a fantasy that we all want to live in.

Anderson's Dior carries that same spirit of fantasy, grounded in exceptional technique. The collection's many references never overshadowed the clothes themselves; instead, they just heightened the emotional impact. You didn't need to recognize every reference to appreciate the beauty of what walked the runway. If Anderson's first year at Dior was about establishing a new visual language, his couture collection makes it clear he's already made it his own.