The verdict on Jonathan Anderson’s super-hyped Dior debut

ALL EYES WERE on Paris today for Jonathan Anderson’s inaugural collection for Dior. The Irish designer teased a Kylian Mbappe-fronted video ahead of the show and an ad featuring muse Jean-Michel Basquiat in a wonky tie, plus the new (old) Dior logo. The mood was set as both preppy and refined. Intriguing, too.

The clothes lived up to their enigmatic mise en scene. Shown outside the Hôtel des Invalides in a box designed to resemble a Parisian picture salon, there was a sharp air of restraint to the collection, which stood in contrast to the Balearic craft wear Anderson presented at Loewe, and the hype tailoring of his predecessor Kim Jones. But there was also plenty of Anderson’s trademark playfulness.

Tweed dominated, with pleated contrast collar overcoats, long line blazers and frock jackets worn with untucked dress shirts and slim jeans. Denim was another big part of the story, with high-waisted, straight-cuts central to many looks. A tweed interpretation of Monsieur Dior’s iconic Bar Jacket was worn with a pair of voluminous vented blue chino shorts.

There were plenty of pieces which looked easy to wear (and buy). Smart pastel knits with discreet logos, round toed CD loafers – reminiscent of a more refined version of Anderson’s Campo loafers at Loewe – and platform embroidered plimsolls were approachable and fun. The suede, logo-emblazoned slippers and smart suede sandals will be on any fashion-hungry consumer’s SS’26 shopping list. The blousy bow ties and capes had more than a whiff of Brideshead about them.

Daniel Craig appeared on the front row wearing the same grey tweed jacket sported by Mbappe in the teaser. Long-standing Dior collaborator Robert Pattinson wore a pair of voluminous chinos and a kipper tie. Josh O’Connor was draped in a roomy school shirt, and Drew Starkey appeared in that casual preppy staple of close-cut denim jacket. These were clothes designed for grown-ups and were all the more appealing for it.

Accessories, commercially crucial, were desirable. The much-beloved Dior Book tote, first introduced by Anderson’s womenswear predecessor Maria Grazia Chiuri, received a masculine makeover, featuring book covers including Saint Pères editions of Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire and In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Dollar and euro signs fluttered in the buyers’ eyes as the totes swung down the runway.

The collection was defined in the show notes as: “an inquiry into the unattainable and undefinable: style. Style as a way to hold oneself, a manner in creating appearances bringing together decisions that are quick and spontaneous. Dressing up to become a character, toying with clothes and the idea of the aristocrat.”

The menswear weeks in both Milan and Paris were muted this season, with few presentations and even fewer shows. The brands that were present focused primarily on tailoring, with strict, Mitteleuropean forestiere jackets and sleek little lace up shoes dominating. Notably, there was barely a sniff of streetwear. Anderson’s aristocratic-inspired Dior confirmed the pendulum swing back towards the sartorial.

These new suits, club ties and Bengal striped shirts embraced less the minimalism of Haider Ackermann’s Tom Ford and Alessandro Sartori’s Zegna – two brands which are growing in strength in Dior’s menswear playing field – and more the prep of Ralph Lauren and Brooks Brothers. But unlike those brands, which do a brisk trade in nostalgia, Anderson’s clothes brought the Ivy League look smack bang into the modern age. Indeed, never has dressing like Bunny Corcoran from Donna Tartt’s WASP-y bible A Secret History felt more urgent.

Under Kim Jones, Dior Menswear reached a new logo-hungry customer, a man for whom the designer furiously merchandised. With Anderson, Dior’s management is hoping for a bigger story to tell. Judging by his first outing today, he’s ready and set to write it for them.

This story originally appeared on Esquire UK.

Related:

How the new creative directors will change the way we shop for luxury

Jonathan Anderson’s Dior: from Chardin to Dracula, a fresh spin on iconic codes