A year ago, Jonathan Anderson staged his hot-ticket Dior debut inside a giant tent at the Hotel National des Invalides in Paris, showcasing billowing cargo shorts, schoolboy ties and rakish military jackets. On Wednesday morning for his second-year student Dior Men’s spring show, the designer hosted a house party in the luxurious rooms and lush backyard of the Musee Nissim de Camondo, the decorative arts museum in Parc Monceau.
“This is the first year on the brand now, so I was thinking to myself, ‘Okay, how do I take what we’ve built on this character, what we’ve built on the first (show), and how does it tie together?'” Anderson told reporters after the show. This time, the character – a boyishly charming personality – was transformed into a young aristocrat after a night out and then back in the morning, his wardrobe oscillating between light pajama-like suits, worn-out sweaters, cool tuxes and thin glitter-coated trousers.
Anderson explained, “Some of my friends have young sons, and especially in London at the moment, there’s a whole new movement of kids going out to raves. The rave culture is starting to take off again.” “You see it in the suburbs, you see it more outside the city. I see it on the scene at 7 in the morning. Something is changing, and kids are getting ready.”
So far, each chapter of Jonathan Anderson’s Dior has told a story of jackets and pants. This time, that story sounded like a Whit Stillman film set in upper-crust Paris, except with ripped jeans and an iPhone plugged into an aux cord, again playing music by Fred…, who produced the show’s soundtrack.
“I kind of have an interesting job because I have to talk to an existing customer, who is a loyal customer, and I have to get a feel for recruiting customers,” Anderson said. “In a weird way, I enjoy messing with it, do you know what I mean, because you’re kind of like, where do you get the tension within that character?”
365-Party-Boy Uniform
The Dior Men’s Spring 2027 show opened and closed with a delicate blonde model playing “cool young guy on a night out.” The first look was a pinstriped drop-lapel jacket reimagined in translucent, drapey chiffon—a camouflage pajama bottom, as if he’d stumbled in the door from a great party at 6 a.m. The first jacket was based on a design by the late Marc Bohn, who served as creative director of Dior from 1960 to 1989. After Anderson bought one for himself for an event, he says, “Then I was like, ‘Okay, maybe this should be the jacket.'”
By the end of the show, our hero was ready to go out again, complete with a slanted bow tie and (probably) an overnight bag. To paraphrase Drake, maybe it’s time for you to start wearing Less Nice clothes and going out more.
WWD/Getty Images
WWD/Getty Images
