Jonathan Anderson makes his debut at Dior; the Summer 2026 collection marks his first collection for the maison
Last Friday marked more than just another spot on the fashion week calendar—it was a reset. The Dior Summer 2026 show, held at the Hôtel National des Invalides in Paris, introduced Jonathan Anderson as the maison’s new creative director. One of fashion’s most anticipated debuts, it promised a collision of past and present, and it delivered.
Projected across the building’s grand façade was an elongated black-and-white image of a Dior salon—haunting and theatrical, it felt like a curtain-raiser to what lay ahead. Inside, the set transported guests to a different kind of gallery: a facsimile of Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie, dressed with two still-life paintings by 18th-century French master Jean Siméon Chardin.
Heralding a new chapter
Jonathan Anderson, known for his cerebral playfulness at Loewe and his namesake label, stepped into Dior with all eyes watching. His debut collection didn’t play it safe—it was a bold first draft of a new Dior language: one part homage, one part disruption.
Anderson didn’t ease into things. The first look made his presence known: a reimagined Bar jacket in tweed, sharply tailored and paired with a crisp high-collared bow tie and voluminous white cargo shorts draped dramatically at the sides. It was unmistakably Anderson—witty, structural, and skewing tradition with a wink.
“Jonathan Anderson’s first collection for Dior is a play on history and affluence, decoding the language of the House in order to recode it,” the brand stated. And that decoding was on full display.
A duality of codes
The romantic-meets-modern tension continued with a standout frockcoat worn over bare skin, styled with slouchy denim and that now-recurring bow tie. It was sensual, relaxed, and a little rebellious. Other highlights followed in quick succession: shimmering coats that caught the light at every angle, capes stamped with the old Dior logo, pussy-bow blouses, tuxedo riffs, military outerwear, medieval silhouettes, and shawls draped so precisely they fell across the body like sculpture.
There was a constant push and pull between structure and ease, classicism and casualness. 18th- and 19th-century French embroideries blossomed across vests and sweaters—but then popped up on sneakers. Coats nodded to Napoleonic drama, while trousers ballooned with skater slouch. The high collided with the low, and it felt intentional.
Among all the tailoring and historical reference points, though, it was the fisherman sandals—worn with buckles left loose—that quietly stole my focus. They summed up something core to the collection: comfort as a form of confidence. That same ethos came through in untied laces on scuffed sneakers and unstructured silhouettes.
This air of nonchalance—so intrinsic to Anderson’s design language—carried through to other wardrobe staples as well. Pinstripe shirts, fluid two-piece suits, boxer shorts, denim jackets, wrapped jeans, soft tailoring, cropped puffer vests, and newly imagined bag silhouettes brought the collection back to earth. Grounded by a muted palette, the looks felt effortlessly wearable—even if not immediately familiar.
Our favourite looks
A Dior that thinks (and feels)
If this first outing is any clue, Anderson’s Dior will be intellectual, playful, and emotionally layered. He’s not here to repackage nostalgia but to expand Dior’s vocabulary. The challenge? Doing so without losing the romantic tension that made the house legendary. Judging from this collection, he’s already speaking in full sentences.
That stretched salon image on the building’s exterior—once an opening note—now felt like a provocation. It wasn’t a sentimental nod. It was a challenge: remember the past, yes, but don’t get stuck in it.
