Just when you think you’re getting to know Jonathan Anderson’s Dior, he flips it on its head so quickly it gives you whiplash; it’s almost as if he’s thrown the playbook out of the window entirely. At the helm of the prestigious Parisian house, Anderson finds a new muse for Dior’s Autumn/Winter 2026 collection: Paul Poiret. Known for his Neoclassicist and Surrealist designs, the French couturier dominated the 1910s, owning a boutique steps from the building that would become Dior’s Avenue Montaigne address. In the collection, Poiret’s eclectic design sensibility is married with Anderson’s formality and Dior’s iconic codes, creating something both reverent and refreshingly undone.
It’s not just colour that guides you through this untrodden world – it’s opulence. Embroidered epaulettes appear on polo shirts, sequinned knitwear shimmers, and bombers are transformed into brocade capes. Then there’s the reimagined Bar Jacket and the Dior medallion – a motif dating back to the house’s founding and reintroduced on the Spring/Summer 2026 runway – now repurposed as a belt buckle. While deeply contrasting this new look (pun intended), the classics feel unexpectedly at home within the collection. Throw on a houndstooth Bar Jacket with baggy cargo denim, and Dior is rediscovered… and, perhaps, so are you.
Put on that neon yellow wig, and you’re someone else entirely. It’s not smart or sophisticated – the wig is eschewed and bluntly chopped – but somehow it makes perfect sense. It signals the new Dior, one that takes risks so often it’s hard even to call them risks at all. In fact, this kind of dressing feels instinctual, almost impulsive, existing firmly in the moment. An army green double-breasted coat is worn over a bare chest, sleeves are adorned with supersized fur-like trims, and suit jackets are afforded a distinct silhouette with rounded shoulder pads and a fitted body. A youthful character has been crafted by Anderson – and you don’t have to get it, but you do have to appreciate it.
Dubbed the “Dior aristo-youth” by the house, models flit between uniform and disarray. One moment they’re cocooned in duvet-esque puffer coats; the next, they’re sporting chest-flaunting cable-knit cardigans and low-rise skinny jeans (hello, 2016!). It’s not that they can’t choose between the contrasting looks – it’s that they don’t have to. This tension becomes the point, a refusal to be pinned down to a single identity. Drama sits comfortably beside restraint, easily juxtaposed against the buttoned-up nature of tweeds and waistcoats.
Whether you love it or hate it, Anderson has cannonballed into the deep end – a decision that feels not only deliberate, but necessary, both for the house and for menswear. In an era where men’s fashion often plays it safe, this kind of conviction feels quietly radical. After all, if the Dior man can’t reinvent himself, who can? It’s within this collection that reinvention becomes the baseline, spawning a world of unknowns for the brand-new Dior.
Discover the collection here.
photography. Courtesy of Dior
words. Amber Louise
