Jonathan Anderson reframes Dior’s heritage in Rodin Museum couture show

Jonathan Anderson, the 41-year-old Northern Irish designer who took over Dior last year, presented his first haute couture show for the house in the garden of the Rodin Museum in Paris, leaning into the brand’s dramatic backstory. Anderson reworked Christian Dior’s 1947 hourglass silhouette into a silk georgette cocktail dress with pleats that "twisted around the body like clay thrown on a pottery wheel," a shape he said was inspired by the ceramics of Dame Magdalene Odundo.

Floral motifs favoured by Monsieur Dior were enlarged into snowball-sized cyclamen earmuffs, a detail linked to a bouquet John Galliano brought to the atelier last year, and the mirrored catwalk was fitted beneath a suspended canopy of moss and silk flowers; the show was delayed an hour for the arrival of Rihanna.

Anderson said he is "leaning into" Dior’s story rather than selling nostalgia, arguing that the house’s founder "changed fashion in 10 years" and that his own approach would not be formulaic: "My Dior is never going to be a formula, because my brain doesn’t work like that." He added that "ideas can make money," noting Dior had "licensed his designs to make a lot of money," and the collection included accessories — branded loafers, collectible clutches and visible-label stoles — that signalled a commercial sensibility.

Key Topics

Culture, Jonathan Anderson, Dior, Rodin Museum, Christian Dior, Magdalene Odundo