Here's how Jonathan Anderson is making history at Dior
Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson has been announced as the next artistic director of Dior, making history by becoming the first designer since Christian Dior himself to oversee men's, women's and couture at the French fashion house.
Online fashion discourse is celebrating the replacement, seeing Maria Grazia Chiuri step down. But after a spectacular final show from her at the French fashion house, such celebrations are being criticized as yet another woman has left a senior role in luxury fashion.
There is no doubt that Chiuri has left a mark on Dior, more than tripling their sales during her nine-year tenure. Yet her collections have divided fashion enthusiasts with some lamenting that her final show on 27 May (Dior's cruise 2026 collection) was her best work.
But others noted that they would have been more supportive earlier in time with Dior if she had shown such work from the outset.
On 8 March 2025, in celebration of International Women's Day, Maison Dior premiered HER DIOR, a documentary by Loïc Prigent chronicling Maria Grazia Chiuri's radical collaborations with renowned female figures since becoming Dior's Creative Director for womenswear in 2016.
The film opens with her first show for Dior and words by artist Judy Chicago, and charts Chiuri's journey from Rome to the global stage. As noted by the house, it distilled the essence of these poignant artistic exchanges in a single word: sisterhood.
But was it also an early goodbye from Dior as well as a recognition of her talents? This was cemented in the Dior cruise 2026 collection, the maison's first full-scale show in Rome, but for Chiuri it was personal.
Born and raised in Rome, Chiuri said the most beautiful goodbye, she returned home and evoked a sense of memory, mythology, place and her vision.
With Anderson now taking the role, the ambitious Northern Irish designer has spent the last 11 years as Creative Director of Loewe (before taking the helm at Dior Men in April), has collaborated with Uniqlo since 2017 and all while remaining the head of JW Anderson.
Established in 2008, JW Anderson began as an elaborate collection of accessories before progressing to menswear and then womenswear by 2010, and presenting in 2011.
He was notable for his unique design aesthetic, which saw him cut and paste different elements of both menswear and womenswear to create silhouettes that are often a blend of both. In this new role, it will be interesting to see how his known disdain for making dresses fares at a house like Dior.
Anderson has mentioned in previous interviews that life in the small town of Magherafelt in Northern Ireland spurred on his ambitions, coupled with trips to the Balearic Island of Ibiza.
His parents noted that he was 'animal crazy,' a motif that still features in his work: his very first accessories collection featured encased insects – an injection of humour when fashion can be overly serious.
Anderson had previously lived in Washington, DC, before moving back to Ireland and working for Dublin's Brown Thomas prior to enrolling in the London College of Fashion.
That first stint as a merchandiser for Prada in Dublin led him to work on window displays for the brand while studying and eventually meeting Manuela Pavesi, the eccentric collaborator of Miuccia Prada.
Until Pavesi's death in 2015, Anderson previewed each of his collections to her, and he says he received his "real education" from her.
Perhaps he also gained from her the importance of the right team - he has since surrounded himself with incredibly talented collaborators. This has allowed Anderson to become known for pushing limits with a complex vision and a dash of humour.
There is no doubt that the accolade-laden designer has the experience for this new role, but what about the vision? Anderson has specialized in skewing gender norms, from his debut menswear collection (which featured flowing silk shorts and blouses on male models), to 2013 when Anderson's gender-blurring reached its apex with tube tops and ruffled shorts paired with frilled knee-high riding boots.
Anderson's inspiration seems to also spring from unconventional sources, while often still paying homage to his roots in Northern Ireland. The S/S24 Ready-To-Wear collection very famously featured a blue hoodie and white shorts moulded from Plasticine, a medium for creativity still manufactured in Northern Ireland.
That same year, the Ready-To-Wear A/W24 collection took inspiration from the OAP stars of Last of the Summer Wine.
This was all a precursor to June 2024, when Anderson's S/S25 revealed a collection of items inspired by Guinness, its iconography, and the art of branding. The collection was inspired by the JW Anderson team's visit to the drinks company's brewery.
Paying homage to the look, texture and colour scheme of the beverage, pieces mixed elements of inclusive luxury with wearable fabrics to create the likes of pearl-effect jersey embroidered to recreate the creamy Guinness head.
Both Anderson and Chiuri have been inspired by literature in their work. In her A/W25 collection - her penultimate show and rounding out nearly 10 years at Dior - Chiuri was inspired by female writers once again, this time by Virginia Woolf.
Looking to Orlando, Woolf's radical, gender-defying novel, the result was a collection that celebrated the transformative and transcendental power of clothing. The collection nodded to Dior's own chapters of history, a fitting homage to the house and to Woolf's time-travelling story.
Interestingly (and via another cryptic Instagram post in September 2024), Anderson revealed that inspiration for his S/S25 collection came from literature and art, with a quote from critic Clive Bell's groundbreaking book, Art: 'In art the only important distinction is the distinction between good art and bad.'
Bell (who also happened to be the brother-in-law to Virginia Woolf) was famously responsible for the concept that for art to be deemed 'good,' an emotional response must be triggered from the viewer - the theory of Significant Form.
Opinions are split as to whether Anderson will do well at Dior (a legacy fashion house that was established in 1946), citing his innovative design and androgynous aesthetic as reasons why he may not necessarily flourish.
However, it could be a chance for Anderson to return to his roots with accessories, or elevate the fashion element of a heritage-heavy luxury brand, just like he had done at Loewe (which was first established in 1846).
Needless to say, it will be interesting to see what the Derry man does next.
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