“I Have Already Placed My Orders”: First Reactions to Jonathan Anderson’s Couture Debut at Dior
John Galliano and Rihanna on the front row, cyclamens on the ceiling and on the models’ ears, swirls of chiffon and organza, a handbag debut and a standing ovation. So concluded Jonathan Anderson’s Dior debut cycle, with his first couture show at the Musée Rodin in Paris — the same space where he presented his second menswear show just a week ago.
In the seven months since he was fully appointed at the helm of the French house, Anderson has launched five of the 10 collections he has to deliver yearly: two men’s ready-to-wear, one women’s ready-to-wear, and two pre-fall (one men’s and one women’s). It’s a heavy lift, but the Northern Irish designer seems to be comfortable learning while doing.
“When you copy nature, you always learn something,” read the show notes for Christian Dior Couture Spring/Summer 2026, the starting point of which was a bouquet of cyclamens that John Galliano gifted Anderson during a visit to the studio a few months back. “Nature offers no fixed conclusions, only systems in motion — evolving, adapting, enduring. Haute couture belongs to the same logic.”
And while couture is likely the most daunting of his new responsibilities, Anderson has already proven his commitment to handmade through the 10 years he spent working with leather artisans at Loewe. If anything, it wouldn’t be out of place to credit him with the resurgence of the word craft in the fashion vernacular — it was his Loewe campaigns that really made the concept cool again.
“Jonathan Anderson takes a young, innovative look for the new generation at Dior. I love the freshness and the colors and the flower earrings that were reminiscent of Galliano’s créations in 1997. He included self-fringed tweed tailoring like the 1998 Mata Hari piece from my auction,” said Mouna Ayoub, who is selling her legendary Christian Dior haute couture collection this Thursday, January 29 at 3pm at the Bristol Hotel in Paris. “The great tradition continues. I have already placed my orders!”
