Jonathan Anderson to design all Dior collections

One word strikes in the press release released this morning by the maison Dior to finally announce, after months and months of speculation, gossip, indiscretions, the appointment of Jonathan Anderson as artistic director of the women's, men's and couture collections - the first time this has happened by Monsieur Dior himself - of the most brilliant gem in the portfolio of LVMH, the largest luxury group in the world, with over 81 billion in revenues in 2024: the word is empathy. It strikes because empathy is a quality that is more necessary than ever but largely neglected, if not vilified, in today's world, from the microcosm of fashion to the highest systems - thanks, Elon Musk; it makes you think because empathy is not a trait that can be immediately and minimally associated with the current work of this titanic and cold maison nor, one might say, with the work, up to now, of its new artistic director. We are obviously talking about appositions referring to the work, not to the people.

Be that as it may, the word seems to announce a welcome change of pace, and confirm that Anderson, forty years old, the brightest talent of his generation, equally ambitious, does not intend to proceed by formulas, like too many of his colleagues who do the same thing wherever they go, with a different price tag, but to reflect on the specificities of the brand to evolve it. Anderson joined the group eleven years ago, when he took over the creative direction of Loewe, transforming an august but dusty house into a cultural brand that has revitalized the idea of craftsmanship and hand-made in a modern way, skipping the reactionary rhetoric of fake craft and becoming the most interesting thing on the market at the moment. That Anderson's skills required a larger laboratory and more generous means was evident, and the move to Dior almost consequent.

The affinity is there: the architecture of the forms, the purity that does not exclude decoration; a certain androgyny. With prestige, however, the level of challenge increases: if at Loewe, in fact, Anderson was able to invent a language from scratch, at Dior he will have to grapple with deep-rooted codes, faced by all his predecessors. The commercial success of the work of Maria Grazia Chiuri, his predecessor on the women's and couture collections, then immediately imposes on him the need to get the formula right. He does not lack vision and mettle, and this gives us hope. The wait in any case is short: on June 27th the men's show, and then already in September the women's.

CHRISTIAN DIOR COUTURE ANNOUNCES THE APPOINTMENT OF JONATHAN ANDERSON