Appointment of Northern Irishman behind Loewe hype machine sets storied fashion house on experimental path
Long before the designer Jonathan Anderson stepped down from his role at Loewe in March, it was rumoured he would be heading for Dior. So when it was finally announced – six months after Dior’s menswear designer left, and four days after its womenswear head, Maria Grazia Chiuri, showed a collection in Rome – it surprised no one.
Yet Anderson’s newfound position at luxury’s centre of gravity still sets Dior, a grand fashion institution, careering down an experimental path. As Delphine Arnault, the chair and chief executive of Christian Dior Couture, told Vogue Business: “For any house, having new artistic direction can be a challenge.”
A critical darling and commercial success, Anderson made Loewe into a fashion week hype machine and Hollywood powerhouse while creating shoes with perspex cracked eggs for heels, art-directing Daniel Craig’s post-Bond relaunch in specs and quirky knits, and casting the late Dame Maggie Smith as a model in an advertising campaign at the age of 88.
Anderson’s role at Loewe was also lucrative. Since he took over, the brand’s annual revenues increased fivefold. With the move to Dior he will now probably become the most prolific designer in fashion; assuming he continues to work on his own brand (JW Anderson), as well as his collaboration with Uniqlo, it is expected he will show 18 collections a year.
