Can Anderson recreate the same magic at Dior? After years of tremendous growth — revenue went from €2.2 billion in 2017 to €9.5 billion in 2023, according to HSBC estimates — Dior has been hit by the luxury downturn and global turmoil. Sales decreased to €8.7 billion in 2024, per HSBC. In the first quarter, sales of LVMH’s fashion and leather goods division were down 5 per cent, positioning the group’s fashion business in the middle of a polarised market. “Dior has to be revived,” Solca told Vogue Business back in April.

Jonathan Anderson’s Spring/Summer 2025 show for Loewe received a standing ovation from many of his peers as well as Arnault.

Photo: Isidore Montag / Gorunway.com

Anderson’s Spring/Summer 2024 for his namesake brand JW Anderson featured hoodies and shorts molded from plasticine.

Photo: Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com

The house now appears to have everything in place for a revival. It recently hired Pierre-Emmanuel Angeloglou as deputy CEO in April, after poaching Miu Miu CEO Benedetta Petruzzo in October to be its managing director. Both executives report to Arnault.

Anderson, who has a reputation as a hard-working and brilliant designer, surely has the ability to blend in with the Dior DNA, juggling its strong heritage and codes. “Ever since he started working on menswear back in February, he’s been spending a lot of time in the archives looking at all the different elements of the brand that the different designers at its helm over the years have developed — like Christian Dior or Yves Saint Laurent, John Galliano, Raf Simons,” Arnault says.

Besides facing the challenge of working across men’s and women’s lines, Anderson will also earn his couture stripes as Dior is among the handful of houses to have turned couture into a thriving business. And while he hasn’t been at a couture house before, Anderson is known for his conceptual shows and couture spirit, especially visible in his SS25 show, which featured “reimagined French golden age couture dresses, all hoops and semi-sheer flower prints”, as Vogue Runway’s Sarah Mower described them. The fashion world will have to wait until January 2026 to see Anderson’s first couture designs for Dior, as the house is going to skip the couture season in July. “Maria Grazia had 20 couture dresses in her cruise show, which have kept the atelier busy,” Arnault says.

Arnault also confirmed that Anderson’s first women’s show for Dior will be during the all-important September season. “In the 25 years I’ve been working in fashion, there have never been so many creative changes,” she muses. “We will see the visions of so many different artistic directors for the industry. I think it’s going to bring up a lot of emotion and excitement. And that’s what fashion is about.” Anderson will find himself head-on with Matthieu Blazy at Chanel, alongside a number of other high-stake debuts.

Anderson’s first menswear show for Dior will be in June, as previously reported. Would Dior ever stage co-ed? “I think for the time being we’re going to keep it separate. You never know what can happen, but we don’t have any plans to reduce the number of shows,” Arnault replies. What about JW Anderson — will he be staying at the helm? “It’s his namesake brand, so obviously it is a project that is really important to him. Yes, he’s going to stay involved in JW Anderson, but maybe in a different way. I think this would be more of a question for him.”

Watch this space.