Jonathan Anderson Makes History at Dior

It's a historic turning point for the House of Dior. For the first time since the death of its founder Christian Dior in 1957, a single designer will oversee all the women's, men's and haute couture collections: Jonathan Anderson. At 40, the Northern Irish designer is the embodiment of audacity, eclecticism and craftsmanship. A triptych perfectly aligned with the ambitions of Delphine Arnault, President and CEO of Christian Dior Couture. Announced as head of the men's wardrobe last April, Anderson finally succeeds Kim Jones and Maria Grazia Chiuri to orchestrate a new, unified and profoundly contemporary creative vision for the Avenue Montaigne house.

The choice is far from accidental. For over a decade, the designer has proven himself at Loewe, the Spanish ready-to-wear house he transformed into a laboratory of stylistic experimentation and a benchmark of cultural luxury. “Jonathan Anderson is one of the greatest creative talents of his generation. His incomparable artistic signature will be an essential asset in writing the next chapter in the history of the House of Dior,” emphasized Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of LVMH, in a statement. But above all, this appointment concentrates unprecedented creative power. Dior is entrusting a single man with the task of simultaneously renewing its image with women, men and haute couture clients. It's a bold gamble, but a coherent one. "It's a great honor for me to join the House of Dior as Artistic Director of the women's and men's collections. I've always been inspired by the rich history of this fashion house, by its depth and empathy," the designer wrote on Instagram.

Anthurium dresses and doll shoes

Anderson is not an aesthete of compromise. He has moved fashion away from its center of gravity. His creations include anthurium dresses that transform plants into objects of desire, shoes with brush heels, pixilated jackets, but also the now well-known pigeon bag that took flight to the Louvre Museum as part of the exhibition Louvre Couture: Objets d'art, objets de mode. For him, each collection is a staging of the real and the unreal. A theater of forms, textures and illusions skillfully calibrated to seduce the eye and also the algorithm. Each of his creations seems to have its own moment of glory on social networks, like the crochet cardigan designed for Harry Styles that became a viral phenomenon in the midst of a pandemic, or the famous tomato purse.

But to reduce Jonathan Anderson to his flashes would be to misunderstand his work. Beneath the playful surface, there's a real sense of silhouette, volume and product. Loewe's puzzle bag, sculpted denim pieces and doll shoes bear witness to his ability to turn experimentation into an object of commercial desire. The technical mastery he developed over many years in Loewe's Spanish workshops makes him a natural partner for the Dior ateliers.

Anderson has never differentiated between fashion and art. A trustee of the Victoria & Albert Museum for many years, he regularly collaborates with contemporary artists such as Franz Erhard Walther and Lara Favaretto. His concept of the collection as an ephemeral work is rooted in a reflection on temporality and emotion, notions dear to Christian Dior himself, who was a gallery owner before becoming a couturier. This approach also enables Anderson to create a transversal link between Dior's history and today's expectations. The founder, a lover of architectural silhouettes, flowers and references to the 18th century, would undoubtedly have appreciated the way the new artistic director enjoys mixing irony and rigor, tradition and subversion. On June 27, he will unveil his first collection for Dior at Men's Fashion Week in Paris. The tone will then be set.

Originally published in Vanity Fair France