Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson has been announced as Kim Jones' successor at Dior Men, swapping his role at Spanish label Loewe for the top seat at the French luxury fashion house.
Bernard Arnault announced the appointment at LVMH's annual shareholders' meeting in Paris, telling the press that the Derry designer will create the June collection for Dior Men's Fashion.
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The Magherafelt native has officially taken up the mantle following months of rumours and his departure from LVMH's smaller label, Loewe, which was announced on March 17.
First hinted via a cryptic Instagram post in December 2024, now captioned 'sunset', the rumour mill was in full swing by the end of Paris Fashion Week 2025.
Fashion fans and forecasters had noted that the sheer volume of collections Anderson creates had slowed, suggesting that a new position was in the works. Anderson’s eponymous label JW Anderson had sat out London Fashion Week earlier this year, and Loewe held a co-ed presentation, rather than a traditional runway show, on 10 March.
The ambitious Northern Irish designer has spent the last 11 years as Creative Director of Loewe, has collaborated with Uniqlo since 2017, all the while remaining the head of JW Anderson.
Established in 2008, JW Anderson began as an elaborate collection of accessories before progressing to menswear and then womenswear by 2010, and presenting in 2011.
He was notable for his unique design aesthetic, which saw him cut and paste different elements of both menswear and womenswear to create silhouettes that are often a blend of both. It will be interesting to see how his known disdain for making dresses fares at a house like Dior.
Anderson has mentioned in previous interviews that life in the small town of Magherafelt in Northern Ireland spurred on his ambitions, coupled with trips to the Balearic Island of Ibiza.
His parents noted that he was 'animal crazy,' a motif that still features in his work: his very first accessories collection featured encased insects – an injection of humour when fashion can be overly serious.
Anderson previously lived in Washington, DC before moving back to Ireland and working for Dublin’s Brown Thomas prior to enrolling in the London College of Fashion. That first stint as a merchandiser for Prada in Dublin led him to work on window displays for the brand while studying and eventually meeting Manuela Pavesi, the eccentric collaborator of Miuccia Prada.
Until Pavesi's death in 2015, Anderson previewed each of his collections to her, and he says he received his "real education" from her. Perhaps he also gained from her the importance of the right team - he has since surrounded himself with incredibly talented collaborators. This has allowed Anderson to become known for pushing limits with a complex vision and a dash of humour.
Over the course of just 17 years, Anderson was appointed creative director of Loewe in 2013, won the British Fashion Award for 'Emerging Talent, Ready-To-Wear’ in 2012, won ‘The New Establishment Award’ in 2013 and picked up ‘Menswear Designer of the Year’ in 2014.
In 2015, Anderson received a historic double award for 'Menswear' and ‘Womenswear Designer of the Year’, the first time any brand had ever won both prestigious awards. In 2023, Anderson was named ‘International Designer of the Year’ at the Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards in New York, picking up ‘Designer of the Year’ at the British Fashion Awards the same year.
There is no doubt that the accolade-laden designer has the experience for this new role, but what about the vision?
From the outset, Anderson has specialised in skewing gender norms, from his debut menswear collection (which featured flowing silk shorts and blouses on male models), to 2013 when Anderson’s gender-blurring reached its apex with tube tops and ruffled shorts paired with frilled knee-high riding boots.
Anderson’s inspiration seems to also spring from unconventional sources, while often still paying homage to his roots in Northern Ireland. The S/S24 Ready-To-Wear collection very famously featured a blue hoodie and white shorts moulded from Plasticine, a medium for creativity still manufactured in Northern Ireland.
That same year, the Ready-To-Wear A/W24 collection took inspiration from the OAP stars of Last of the Summer Wine.
This was all a precursor to June 2024, when Anderson’s S/S25 revealed a collection of items inspired by Guinness, its iconography, and the art of branding. The collection was inspired by the JW Anderson team's visit to the drinks company's brewery. Paying homage to the look, texture and colour scheme of the beverage, pieces mixed elements of inclusive luxury with wearable fabrics to create the likes of pearl-effect jersey embroidered to recreate the creamy Guinness head.
Anderson has been inspired by literature in his work. Interestingly (and via another cryptic Instagram post in September 2024), Anderson revealed that inspiration for his S/S25 collection came from literature and art, with a quote from critic Clive Bell’s groundbreaking book, Art: ‘In art the only important distinction is the distinction between good art and bad.’
Bell (who also happened to be the brother-in-law to Virginia Woolf) was famously responsible for the concept that for art to be deemed 'good,' an emotional response must be triggered from the viewer - the theory of Significant Form.
Opinions are split as to whether Anderson will do well at Dior (a legacy fashion house established in 1946), citing his innovative design and androgynous aesthetic as reasons why he may not necessarily flourish.
However, it could be a chance for Anderson to return to his roots with accessories or elevate the fashion element of a heritage-heavy luxury brand, just like he had done at Loewe (which was first established in 1846).
An Irishwoman, Carmel Snow, baptised Dior’s first collection the ‘New Look,’ but will another Irish person be the one to give it another new look? This time for men?
Perhaps a revamp, alongside a little humour (minus any kitsch), is just what Dior needs.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ.
