Jonathan Anderson’s Dior debut today has undoubtedly been one of the most anticipated and coveted first collections of the year, if not the decade. Over the past months, we have been gathering an understanding of what might appear on the runway on the first of October through his first menswear collection for the house in June, and a selection of custom looks on the likes of Greta Lee and Mia Goth at Venice Film Festival this August.
At the center of the show space today, a simple Dior box sat with its lid off. Before the first exit, a four-sided projection appeared above attendees—footage of Dior’s longstanding history, from reversed runway shows to fittings with Christian Dior himself, it was all there, the projection as if to say: Anderson is about to draw it all out.
The starting point for Anderson reportedly lay in the idea of tension. Dior’s heritage and where we have landed today. How are we bridging the idea of dressing up with reality? How does one pay homage to the house’s deep history with couture while producing a collection that different types of women, alongside the couture customer, want to be part of? The initial show notes close out with the phrase, “change is inevitable.” It became clear from the first exit that this would be Anderson’s overarching plan.
Speaking of the first exit, out came a delicately pleated white strapless mini dress with a crinoline-like structured skirt and two modest bows, an assumed homage to Monsieur Dior’s pivotal “New Look” silhouette which was introduced in 1947 along with the Bar jacket, which the British designer reimagined here as a cropped silhouette with a pleated mini skirt instead of a full skirt like the original look. The Bar jacket is Dior’s sacred cow, and each designer tasked with heading up Dior has taken on the mantle with their own interpretation. Anderson’s willingness to inject play into his creative vision sees it here as an abbreviated iteration.
Interpretations of Dior’s couture underscored the collection, reworked into everyday silhouettes. There was a focus on pleating, which fascinated the original founder back in the ‘50s, lace dresses with panniers on the hips and oversized bows at the back, athleisure suits—literally, tuxes rendered in soft, tight fabric, and wool coats with flouncy cropped tailcoats that had been reversed and paired with denim skirts and jeans.
Everything comes back to history. There was a lace collar that acted as a half-veil that referenced a look from an Autumn/Winter 1959 dress designed by Yves Saint Laurent, and a scalloped closing dress that referenced Christian Dior's historic "Junon" dress, the footage of which was projected prior to the show. Here, it is adapted, cut just below the knee and given a halter-neck silhouette.
Before the show commenced, projected onto the show space from that Dior box which sported Anderson’s new interpretation, were the words: “Do you dare enter…the House of Dior?” It felt like more of a question for Anderson than for us. Likely under more pressure than he’s ever experienced before, Anderson’s bow was to a standing ovation of attendees. We’ve entered a new era of reinvention, and Jonathan Anderson has certainly entered the house of Dior.
