Jonathan Anderson joins Dior Men’s. Here’s what to expect
Having left Loewe last month, Jonathan Anderson returns to fashion as the rumours have finally been confirmed
THE RUMOURS ARE TRUE! Jonathan Anderson, after leaving his creative director role at Loewe in March, has been announced as Kim Jones’ successor at Dior Men’s.
LVMH’s CEO, Bernard Arnault, revealed the appointment at the annual shareholders meeting held today, responding to a question about who would take over from Jones. Anderson’s first collection will debut during Paris Fashion Week in June.
Speculation of Anderson’s new job started well before Jones stepped down in January, and with Anderson’s first collection showing oh so soon, it explains why he chose not to hold a runway show for Loewe’s autumn/winter ’25 collection in February. (That pretty much confirmed it for the industry crowd, but an official announcement was still pending.)
There are a few reasons why this allocation was so expected.
Loewe, like Dior, is owned by LVMH, meaning Arnault and Anderson have worked together for over a decade. It’s not unusual for a parent company to keep their talent within their eco-system, meaning Anderson was bound to stay within the LVMH family.
In 2013, as part of the creative directorship deal, LVMH bought a majority stake his label, JW Anderson, which still thrives today as an outlet for his overly conceptual runway looks. That further affirms the likelihood of helming another LVMH-owned brand.
And in terms of artistic direction, Anderson and Jones are not that dissimilar. Both imbue their designs with artistic references that derive from a deep understanding of the worlds adjacent to fashion.
Jones looked to Rudolf Nureyev for autumn/winter 2024, while Anderson presented an ode to Michael Clark via his eponymous label for autumn/winter 2023. American artist Richard Hawkins served as a muse for Loewe’s autumn/winter 2024 collection, while Jones nodded to Duncan Grant and other members of the Bloomsbury Group for spring/summer 2023.
They’ve both curated exhibitions, too. For Jones, it was the “Radical Modernity: From Bloomsbury to Charleston” exhibition at Sotheby’s, while Anderson’s most recent dabble was 2023’s “On Foot” exhibit at Offer Waterman gallery.
This type of context to fashion design creates pieces that are on the cusp of being whimsical, yet both designer’s connection to the zeitgeist means that the silhouettes are contemporary, exciting and innovative. Jones was a purveyor of making “streetwear” covetable to the luxury market; Anderson constantly questions how clothes sit on people – think: extremely high waistlines and sleeveless knitwear – in today’s age.
All in all, this makes for some exciting news, some that we’ve been waiting a long time for. Now, it’s the countdown to that first show that’ll have us twiddling our thumbs.
This story originally appeared on Esquire UK.
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