A large venue with a couple of small artworks hanging from the walls: a certain Irish designer must be behind this. And he is. He’s behind almost everything nowadays, and to no one’s complaint. The awaited debut show at the French maison he’s now completely responsible for has finally happened, and in between the expectations, excitement and certainty that it would be remarkable, the new and first-ever Dior by Jonathan Anderson collection emerges just as that: a new angle. The starting point of the up-and-coming decoding and recoding of the maison by the hands and the mind of a man that handles like no one else references, context, and the almost alchemic balance between sensibility, technicality and aesthetics.
This first show of the many firsts Anderson will have to prepare as the new creative director of all divisions at Dior was a comfortable way to start his journey, a bearable inclination compared to the sharp-angled hills couture and womenswear will be. We come from a great Dior Homme by the also great Kim Jones, so it's not like we were waiting for the miraculous saviour that will revive us all. When the women’s show arrives, we will find out if we can breathe at ease again, but for now, the change from Jones to Anderson is more a transition between different flavours rather than a change of quality. We come from good, and it’s still good, so no notes in that regard. Although the exorbitant prices of the new Dior make me think something regarding upping the game must be the reason for the upping of the zeros in the price tags, but we’re not here to talk about money. It's not like it affects us anyway.
About his debut show, the Irish designer has mentioned how the intention is establishing a language, and a good way of doing so is taking the four-letter word that started it all and giving it back the form with which it was born. The original font of the Dior logo makes a return, with its perfections and imperfections, a notion that for Anderson reflects what couture and, dare I say, any creation is marked by: the attempt to reach an immaculate result humbled by the ever-present imperfection of anything human-made. That imperfection is often where the magic resides, where the uniqueness of the touch is reflected and where we can distinguish and differentiate who was behind a certain spontaneous gesture. Anderson is a genius at this, blending perfection and imperfection, creating and thinking of highly polished technical ideas with a heavy set of references and history behind them and making them seem like they’re born from the heartfelt hunch of a hopeless romantic creative mind.
The structure and pattern of the Cigale dress, a standard of Dior and one of the most recognisable silhouettes in fashion history, born in a period of time that is far enough from ours to be able to romanticise it, is, again, decoded and recoded for our modern messy times; and for the male wardrobe. A voluminous version of cargo Bermuda shorts, when looked at from the front, appears to be an overall where the upper body is hanging behind by the waist, but from the side and the back reveals a nice layered, folded pattern that is the reason why it looks so boxy and angular, in a similar fashion to the Cigale. A laid back, down-to-earth memory of its immaculate predecessor. The same with the Delft dress reimagined as capes or the unmistakable Bar jacket structure toned down but just as recognisable.
On the big salon inspired by Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie museum and accompanied by two paintings by Jean Siméon Chardin, the aristocratic and almost fairytale-like references included in the different looks, from the prince-like combination of long coat and vest with golden buttons or the royal neck scarves to the bubble gum or mint pieces, are brought to the real-life realm when paired with cosy knits, relaxed shirts or unevenly folded blue jeans, like the visitor of the museum and the subject of the art piece became one.
Add to this the crowded audience, maybe similar in size to other shows, but with a remarkably narrowed sitting plan, resting very, very close to the models walking down the labyrinth runway. In the end, when all the pieces had been revealed and Jonathan Anderson appeared to take the final bow, the audience stood up and easily surrounded him, just like the massive waves of visitors surround La Gioconda at the Louvre. The comparison might seem funny, but the image was the same: all backs of heads very close to one another admiring a single, slightly smiling subject. Everything that happened in the past can happen in the present. A great history, in great hands, can result in a great present, and it appears so it will.
