subtiele rebellie en commerciële kennis

Jonathan Anderson entered the Dior stage on Friday with the most difficult task in luxury fashion: breathing new life into a powerhouse of 9.5 billion euros, the growth of which starts to slow down. The identity of the man’s fashion of the brand has faded since the Hedi Slimane era at the start of the Millennium.

Forty-year-old Northern Irish is not a beginner. LVMH took a minority stake in his label JW Anderson in 2013 and at the same time installed him at Loewe, where he developed the once -sleeping Spanish brand into a cult company (and created the puzzle Bag). The inevitable next step, Dior, finally came about this spring after a series of leaked messages: a departure from Loewe, a first appointment with the men’s fashion and, after the departure of Maria Grazia Chiuri last month, full control over any Dior line.

A trace of marketing hints

In the week prior to the show, Diors gave the Imagobbureau Hints. American artist legend Jean-Michel Basquiat and Socialite Lee Radziwill, both recorded by Andy Warhol, floated over Moodboard-Teasers. A jerky film in super 8-style lingered at peonies, a castle and a wooden canoe that bobbins on stagnant water. Like the canoe, viewers were asked to wait.

Context: turnover up, momentum down

The wait had consequences for the real world. Diors reversal quadrupled between 2017 and 2023, but HSBC signaled a delay from the first quarter of 2024, thereby referring to possible resistance of consumers at persistent price increases and changing priorities. Delphine Arnault, general manager of Dior, now talks less about fireworks and more about ‘quality and craftsmanship’. For Anderson, the unspoken assignment is clear: deliver desirable products, bags, sneakers, ready -made clothing and a vision that can translate into persistent question.

The collection: Saltburn meets Warhol

On the catwalk, the pressure translated into nonchalance. Half-gridding shirts, upright collars, a rolled-up trouser leg, looks that reminded of the decadence of Saltburn combined with a Warholian downtown appearance. The tailor-made work, less razor-sharp than Slimanes legendary Skinny Suit, was compensated by playful details: a vampire cape, a cable sweater in peony pink, Oscar wild-string around the neck, jackets of supple tweed. Anderson’s British eccentricity emerged in pandras with Napoleonic knots and chinos that were so often washed that they radiated an aristocratic decline.

Were the Cargo Shorts and Polos special? Maybe not. But in their casual version they offered a new beginning, with which they indicated that everyday clothing is again suitable for high fashion and, more importantly, a high turnover.

Commercial chess

Accessories betrayed the intention: a hybrid sneaker deck shoe, bright book bags, sweaters with a renewed Dior logo in small letters-AAS for generation Z and a guideline for retail trade. Denim returned with pocket stitches that were first introduced by Slimane, proof that Anderson is willing to use the history of the fashion house where it works.

And this is just the beginning. According to LVMH’s arithmetic, Anderson will produce around eighteen collections per year for men, ladies, leather goods and his own label, a work pressure that would neck less talented designers. Nevertheless, his record of service suggests a capacity to bring nuance into the everyday: adjusting a heel, setting up a collar, having a cashier ring.

What the wrinkles say

Christian Dior was once in favor of post -war elegance; Anderson’s wrinkled shirts represent something else. Perhaps it feels neat dressing now, or perhaps life – pandemic, conflict, high costs of living – is just too short to iron. Anyway, Anderson has created a new place in the Dior-Bos. The real test will be whether this nonchalance studied translates into rows for the cash register. In a year, just like the turnover graphs, the peonies will show whether the fashion house is blooming again.