In the heart of the Jardin des Tuileries, Dior celebrated Jonathan Anderson's women's debut—the first "Anderson" woman for the French house. With a keen eye for heritage and a thirst for innovation, the Northern Irish designer designed a "new Dior woman," balancing classic elegance with experimental boldness.
A reinvented identity
From the outset, Anderson saw his task as decoding and recomposing Dior's DNA: the famous Bar jacket, an iconic piece of the house, emerges in his collection with loose volumes, ambiguous closures, and back openings that transform its original silhouette. Alongside this reinterpretation, short pleated skirts, pencil skirts, structured denim capes, shirtdresses in weightless fabrics, and short dresses with open backs alternate.
The show opened with a black-and-white cinematic montage, which, through gothic references and horror influences, suggested the themes of distorted memory, light shaping shadows, and rewritten tradition. This evocative visual prelude set the tone for a collection that aspired not to a "New Look 2.0," but rather to a plurality of models—as if Anderson were asserting that the "Dior woman" is not a single archetype, but a versatile concept.
Contrasts and inexhaustible relationships
Contrast stands out among the collection's leitmotifs: knitwear and tailoring, lightness and structure, femininity and androgynous deconstruction. Sheer fabrics intertwine with pressed wools, while proportions play on the tension between the clad and the unveiled. A high-necked coat, linear and severe, coexists in the same sequence with an impalpable mini dress: statements that touch but do not cancel each other out.
There's no shortage of playful touches: eccentric hats, high-top shoes with decorative "ears," and almost illusionistic inserts that hint at what's behind them. There's a sense of theatricality—but never at the expense of tailoring.
Reactions and perspectives
At the end of the show, Anderson received a standing ovation: the audience included notable celebrities such as Jimin, Jisoo, Jennifer Lawrence, and Johnny Depp. But the critical reactions were more nuanced: while the debut was hailed as bold and ambitious, some observers—including the AP agency—pointed out the lack of a strong, defined silhouette, remarking that the collection appeared as a "catalog of questions" rather than a unified statement.
In this sense, Anderson's debut is perceived more as a "conceptual prologue" than a definitive manifesto. However, in a year in which eight new creative directors presented their debut collections in Paris, the house of Dior seized the opportunity to demonstrate a desire for disruption and renewal.
A unified era
The women's debut follows Anderson's men's launch, cementing a historic moment in which Dior has entrusted a single designer with responsibility for men's, women's, and haute couture—something not seen since the days of Christian Dior. The LVMH group's strategy seems clear: to achieve visual and narrative coherence across all of the brand's lines.
Expectations are high—not only because Dior is a cornerstone of global luxury, but also because the global fashion market is experiencing a moment of economic and cultural fragility. In this context, Anderson's career may not mark an immediate triumph, but rather a gamble on the identity and visual culture of the future. Also on the catwalk are Bianca Balti's daughter, Nicole Kidman, and the stunning Loli Bahia.