Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson has been named creative director of women’s, men’s and haute couture collections of Dior, replacing Maria Grazia Chiuri who held the role for almost a decade.
The expanded role for Anderson, who was made menswear designer in April, cements his status as a star of the business after his decade-long rise at Dior’s parent company LVMH.
Bernard Arnault, chair and chief executive of LVMH, described Anderson — son of former Irish rugby captain Willie Anderson — as “one of the greatest creative talents” of his generation. “His incomparable artistic signature will be a crucial asset in writing the next chapter of the history of the House of Dior,” he added.
LVMH took a minority stake in Anderson’s eponymous label in 2013, the same year that he was named creative director of the LVMH-owned Loewe. He transformed the reputable but staid Spanish label into one of the industry’s most acclaimed fashion houses.
Under Chiuri, Dior’s first female creative director, sales grew quickly to nearly €8.7bn, according to HSBC estimates. In the past year, however, sales have fallen from record highs during an industry-wide slowdown.
Sales at LVMH’s bellwether fashion and leather goods division, which houses Dior, fell 5 per cent in the first quarter.
Rising prices have contributed to consumer fatigue, as well as a sense that Dior needed some new creative impetus after the highly successful run under Chiuri and former chief executive Pietro Beccari, now in charge of luxury brand Louis Vuitton. Chiuri’s departure was announced last week.
“Greedflation and lack of creativity have hit [Dior], but we believe the brand could recover with the second half of 2025 being flattish and 2026 growing again,” analysts at HSBC wrote, adding that excitement over Anderson’s arrival was unlikely to help performance in the current fiscal year.
Anderson grew up in Magherafelt, Northern Ireland and got his first break in fashion while working as a window dresser in Dublin’s Brown Thomas department store.
Considered a disrupter in the design world, his 2008 debut show for his own label JW Anderson, in which he showed a gender-fluid menswear collection of ruffled hot pants and leather dresses, was deemed a critical disaster and he considered giving up.
More recent collections have demonstrated a sophisticated commercial instinct. Anderson has also taken on high-profile projects such as designing Rihanna’s outfit for her 2023 Super Bowl appearance and costumes for recent Luca Guadagnino film Challengers.
“A point of view is essential in order to shape the output of a House,” said Anderson. “I have mine, of course, regarding what Dior can be, but I am convinced that a House like this calls for an empathetic exchange.”
The changes at Dior and Loewe are part of a wider reshuffle of top creative talent, as brands from Gucci to Valentino, Chanel and Balenciaga seek renewal in a tougher luxury market.
Anderson left Loewe earlier this year when former Proenza Schouler designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez were named creative directors.
While the LVMH group counts Sarah Burton — formerly of Alexander McQueen — at Givenchy and Camille Miceli at Pucci among its ranks, Chiuri’s departure has emphasised the lack of women in creative leadership roles across the fashion industry.
Anderson will present his first collection in Paris on June 27.
Delphine Arnault, chair and chief executive of Christian Dior Couture, said: “I am convinced that he will bring a creative and modern vision to our House, inspired by the fabulous story of Monsieur Dior and the codes he created.”
