Jonathan Anderson’s Dior Homme Debut Reimagines House Heritage 

Several days ahead of Dior Homme’s Spring/Summer 2026 presentation, the highly anticipated debut of ex-Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson, he shared a few Polaroids from his mood board to sate the fashion world’s appetite. There was the effortlessly chic Lee Radziwill, socialite muse to Andy Warhol, who took the photograph; as he did of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat looking dapper and nonchalant in a classic suit marked by an askew collar. “As I started out on this journey,” Anderson wrote on Instagram, “I kept returning to these photographs of Basquiat and Radziwill who are both, for me, the epitome of style.” 

They set the tone for what Anderson had in store as the newly minted artistic director of Dior and Dior Homme—the first in the French couture house’s history tasked with such towering responsibilities since Christian Dior himself. And it didn’t disappoint. The Irish-born Anderson undertook intense research into the archives to fully grasp the Maison’s sartorial sensibilities, melding house signatures with a relaxed, preppy enthusiasm. There were ample Easter eggs to Dior heritage, but the collection eschewed high fashion’s self-referential proclivities for a refreshing glimpse at classic codes presented through the lens of the now. In other words, as press materials state, “decoding the language of the House in order to recode it.”  

The looks, in turn, penned a paean to personal style and the power of collage, reveling in spontaneous contrasts. The Bar jacket—a women’s wear staple and icon of the New Look—has been reimagined season after season, but Anderson’s deft rendition in Donegal tweed looked fearless and fresh when paired with a single stock collar and baggy billowing cargo shorts. Colorful 18th-century French silk vests joined sneakers in joyous ensembles. Dark jeans slyly referenced Hedi Slimane, the aughts-era artistic director whose skinny black suits afforded the house a slight edge. Delft, Caprice, and La Cigale dresses were lovingly recontextualized. Fabrics were developed from Dior’s earliest swatches.  

Anderson’s smart fusion of everyday ease with house heritage was clear before the show even started, as the fashion and entertainment glitterati eagerly flocked to the venue perched in front of the gold-domed Hôtel des Invalides. (Guests included Rihanna, Robert Pattinson, Mia Goth, and LaKeith Stanfield.) Emblazoned with a black-and-white photograph of Christian Dior’s original salon, the pop-up sported parquet wood floors, Dior-gray velvet walls, and a bright skylight—a spitting image of Berlin’s heavenly Gemäldegalerie, one of Anderson’s favorite museums. Hanging on the walls were two rare still lifes by Jean Siméon Chardin on loan from the National Galleries of Scotland and the Louvre, an apt choice as the 18th-century Dutch painter’s oils often found beauty in the mundane. 

When Anderson was tasked with revitalizing Loewe, a once-sleepy purveyor of Spanish leathers, he set out to establish the LVMH-owned brand as a cultural arbiter imbued with craft, creativity, and the magic that ensues when the two coalesce. Owing to his passionate affinity for handicraft and the arts, that agenda largely remains intact at Dior. He tapped Sheila Hicks to cloak a powder blue Lady Dior bag in tufted nests of pure linen ponytails. Totes and crossbodies were blanketed with book covers by Charles Baudelaire, Truman Capote, and Bram Stoker. He even reissued a ceramic plate to deliver the show’s invite, complete with three porcelain hard-boiled eggs. (Monsieur Dior favored omelettes.) Perhaps it amounts to a hearty appetizer before the first course arrives in the form of his debut women’s wear collection in September.