Dior’s menswear show at the Rodin Museum annex signalled a new chapter for the heritage house, as creative director Jonathan Anderson delivered a confident, sharply focused collection that fused tradition with modernity. Neon-yellow wigs set a bold, playful tone, while the clothes themselves carried the argument, proving Dior is back on track after earlier runway wobbles.
Anderson, 41, celebrated for transforming Loewe into a luxury powerhouse, pared the set to near nothing, allowing his designs to take centre stage. The stakes were evident: VIPs including Robert Pattinson, Lewis Hamilton, and SZA filled the front row, where one observer remarked, “Dior is back. It’s a good day for fashion.”
Where Anderson’s previous menswear outings sometimes felt like experiments in search of cohesion, this show had clarity. Silhouettes were tightened, storylines sharpened, and the house’s identity firmly rooted. Gender-bending elements were present but anchored by masculine boots and small-heeled lace-ups, striking a balance between playful fluidity and grounded structure.
Outerwear emerged as the collection’s backbone. Coats were cut with precision, nodding subtly to Dior’s iconic Bar jacket and New Look heritage. A faint curve at the hip and hints of postwar hourglass tailoring suggested the house’s historic codes without ceremony, demonstrating Anderson’s deft negotiation of Dior’s weighty legacy.
The collection also explored contrasts of high and low, old and new. Tailoring was slender and precise, with elongated jackets, shrunken blazers, tailcoats, cropped Bar jackets, and lean trousers. Outerwear merged pragmatism with drama — bombers flowed into brocade capes, balloon-back field jackets, and cocooning coats. The collection evoked the modern flâneur: a youth navigating Paris while carrying echoes of couture history.
Glam-rock touches, including glittering epaulettes, amplified theatricality without overwhelming the collection. Accessories reinforced this strategy, with lace-ups and loafers keeping the body planted even as silhouettes blurred the masculine-feminine line. The neon wigs served as punctuation marks — audacious signals of confidence that complemented, rather than competed with, the clothes.
Dior’s menswear revival comes at a critical moment for luxury. With LVMH’s flagship houses under scrutiny amid broader market pressures, and Kering’s Paris runways notably absent, Anderson’s show was a statement of authority and vision. Following Maria Grazia Chiuri’s mixed critical run, the house has placed a significant wager on Anderson — the first designer to oversee womenswear, menswear, and haute couture under one hand.
With precise tailoring, heritage-inspired outerwear, and theatrical flourishes, Dior’s Paris show demonstrates that Anderson has found his groove. The collection reaffirmed the house’s relevance, balancing respect for its past with a confident eye on the future, proving that sometimes, authority need not shout — it simply wears yellow.
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