Mammoth task for Jonathan Anderson: What awaits the designer at Dior?

Jonathan Anderson’s appointment as artistic director of both menswear and womenswear at Dior may have been long speculated and widely anticipated, but the now-confirmed dual role for the Northern Irish designer is nonetheless historic. With a somewhat understated announcement on Monday, Anderson becomes the first designer to lead all divisions of the storied French fashion house – including womenswear, menswear, and haute couture – since Christian Dior himself.

Ten collections a year – and counting

With great power, however, comes great responsibility. In Anderson’s case, that responsibility will amount to ten collections per year for Dior alone, not including the six annual collections for his eponymous label, J.W. Anderson, or the two he designs in collaboration with Uniqlo. While many assumed Anderson would pause work on his namesake brand to focus on his expansive new role, particularly given the brand’s absence from the February fashion calendar, he remains officially involved. According to The Business of Fashion, citing J.W. Anderson’s chief executive, Jenny Galimberti, the designer will continue to oversee all six collections for his label.

The workload is monumental, even for a designer known for his relentless pace and creative output. Since launching his brand in 2008, later backed by a minority stake from LVMH in 2013, Anderson has rarely slowed. When he wasn’t creating for his own label, he was busy transforming Loewe, the Spanish, LVMH-owned fashion house he joined in 2013 at just 29 years old, from a relatively inconsequential brand into one of fashion’s most sought-after and talked-about names, with annual revenues estimated at around 2 billion dollars. Even that, however, didn’t seem to fully occupy his time toward the end of his tenure, as he also partnered with Italian film director Luca Guadagnino to design costumes for films such as Challengers and, more recently, Queer.

All of this still seems a far cry from what Anderson is now set to take on at Dior, a maison with estimated revenues of 9 billion euro in 2023, according to HSBC. Until now, there has been one unspoken rule ever since Dior Men became an established line under Hedi Slimane in the early 2000s: no designer was to take on both womenswear and menswear simultaneously, as the workload was considered simply too immense. Former creative director John Galliano, who led womenswear from 1996 to 2011, cited the overwhelming demands – creating over 30 collections a year across both Dior and his namesake label – as the cause of his breakdown, drug abuse, and eventual scandal-ridden dismissal from Dior.

Anderson “the only option” for Dior

Anderson does, without a doubt, appear far more level-headed than Galliano, less eccentric, too. But much like his predecessor, he is “one of the creative talents of his generation,” as Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, described him when announcing Anderson’s appointment to the menswear line back in April. His daughter, Delphine Arnault, Dior’s chief executive, used even more exuberant language in a rare interview with Business of Fashion, where she explained her decision to appoint the designer to the dual role. He had been the obvious choice, she said, calling him the most talented designer of his generation. Arnault, who first met him 13 or 14 years ago, also praised his loyalty, something he had already proven during his tenure at Loewe, while acknowledging that a designer as energetic and ambitious as Anderson would inevitably seek a new challenge.

That challenge has now arrived. Dior is not only more than four times the size of Loewe in terms of estimated revenue, but also comes with a significantly larger team to oversee – not to mention the fact that Anderson is joining the house at a pivotal moment. Growth has slowed, and expectations are astronomical following what has been one of fashion’s most drawn-out succession sagas. The speculation began when Kim Jones, then artistic director of Dior Men, resigned, and rumors swirled that Maria Grazia Chiuri, who led the brand’s womenswear for over a decade, was also set to depart. At long last, that question has found its answer, even if it only opens up space for more questions, because what exactly the new Dior will look like remains to be seen.

A unified vision to be unveiled at the end of June

What is already known, however, is that Anderson’s appointment signals more than just a creative shake-up – it represents a strategic shift for Dior. The house is now clearly pursuing a unified creative vision across all divisions, something that has historically been lacking, with distinctly different approaches often dividing menswear and womenswear. “It’s a lot of work,” Arnault acknowledged. “But we think this will bring a lot of coherence – in the products, in the communications, in the windows.”

Anderson’s arrival, then, is set to usher in a new era for Dior – not just in aesthetic terms, but structurally as well. While it is safe to assume that his vision will depart significantly from those of his predecessors, it is rooted in deep research. In preparation for his debut, Anderson has reportedly spent time in the Dior archives, examining not only the work of Christian Dior himself but also that of the designers who followed him.

Among the many house codes he’s revisited, the new designer is said to be especially drawn to iconic pieces such as the Lady Dior handbag – and according to Arnault, he has been granted full creative freedom to reinterpret these elements in his own voice. That Dior would grant him such liberty, especially when it comes to leather goods, comes as little surprise. Anderson has already proven his talent for creating accessories that both captivate and sell, with Loewe’s now-iconic Puzzle Bag from 2015 standing as just one notable example.

One area where the newly appointed designer, despite his extensive experience, notably lacks expertise is haute couture, a discipline he has never officially tackled. While craftsmanship has long been a cornerstone of his work at Loewe, couture presents a different level of technical and artistic precision. It is, however, the one aspect of his new role that he will have time to ease into, with Dior opting to skip the upcoming couture season. The decision is not without context, after all Maria Grazia Chiuri’s final collection for the house, though officially ready-to-wear, featured 20 couture-level gowns, likely occupying the ateliers well beyond the typical production timeline.

As a result, the fashion world will first encounter the designer's creative vision for Dior through his menswear debut this June, most likely a strategic move. Launching with menswear not only gives Anderson a cleaner slate, distancing his work from the immediate legacy of Chiuri’s womenswear, but also positions his first major statement outside of the crowded womenswear calendar. His debut women’s collection is slated for Paris Fashion Week in September, a season already brimming with high-profile transitions at Chanel, Gucci, Balenciaga, Loewe, Bottega Veneta, Versace, and Jil Sander.

By the time Anderson unveils his take on Dior womenswear, he will have already planted his flag – a move that may give him both clarity and momentum amid fashion’s most competitive season.