Actually Fashion. Dior Men AW26

January 22, 2026 | Design & Culture by Ed

Remember my very real concerns about this season’s menswear turning conservative? Jonathan Anderson erased them the second the first look of his sophomore Dior menswear collection hit the runway. It felt like a bow-wow-wow moment of unfiltered fashion that is actually fashion, for Christ’s sake.

The yellow wigs by Guido Palau, à la Pam Hogg, felt like the much-needed final disruption of the contemporary Dior image – one long orchestrated by former creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Kim Jones. Goodbye neatness and primness; hello decadence, flamboyance, drama. This collection cut the umbilical cord to anything preppy, veering into directions nobody could have fathomed. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE.

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Boys. Dior Men Pre-Fall 2026

November 28, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Jonathan Anderson’s pre-fall 2026 collection for Dior Men reads as both a continuation and a clarification of his debut collection from the summer. And you know what? I like it. Anderson is betting big on a neo-preppy sensibility: oversized “Delft” cargo shorts, a frat-boy color palette, and a distinct Ralph-Lauren-ification of the Dior universe. What I loved most in this line-up is the way he transformed the “Bar” jacket – rendered here in Donegal wool – into a new menswear classic, something that can be effortlessly worn with faded jeans and a lived-in suede cross-body bag. Another look – a floral jacket layered over a blue striped shirt and paired with pink trousers – plays deliberately with the boundaries of good and bad taste in menswear. There’s an intriguing dialogue between high and low in Jonathan’s approach to Dior, and it makes the language he’s still in the process of defining sound increasingly compelling.

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The Debut. Dior Men SS26

June 28, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

For some reason, you always expect a seismic shift from a debut as big as Jonathan Anderson’s first collection for Dior. Interestingly, his first line-up for Loewe – over a decade ago – was menswear too, and many people were puzzled, just like now with his take on Dior. And that’s ok.

Rewriting Dior isn’t something you can pack effortlessly into one collection. Anderson has a vision for the brand for the upcoming few seasons, and probably only when we see more of it, his debut will make more sense – when a bigger picture will take shape.

At the moment, all I see is a continuation of a Dior Men narrative that was planted by Kim Jones: British flamboyance, twisted with codes coming from Jonathan’s namesake label, JW Anderson (like those oversized, millefeuille chino shorts). There were witty references to the maison’s heritage, revived through a new lens: the “Bar” jacket was made from an Irish Donegal tweed – a matter of national pride for Anderson – which featured here and there throughout the collection. There was also an intriguing play with fashion historicism, like Louis 16th frock coat worn with ordinary cotton trousers. I will note that such brands as Marcus Allen’s The Society Archive or ERL experiment with similar vintage-vintage notions for a while now. Interestingly, the collection’s affection for flaneurism had echoes of Rei Kawakubo’s Comme Des Garçons.

I might still not understand the show’s connection with Andy Warhol (the brand released polaroids depicting his famous friends as the collection’s teaser), but I see a dialogue between two fictional man: Louis de Pointe du Lac, played by Brad Pitt in “Interview With The Vampire”, and Ennis, embodied by Heath Ledger in “Brokeback Mountain”. Dramatic, knitted capes (and of course the “Dracula” tote) and slim, brocade waistcoats created an intriguing friction with raw flannel shirts and faded denim.

Designers entering a new brand have more questions than answers – just like the spectators of their debuts. I’m not fully buying new Dior yet, but I look forward to the next pieces of the Anderson puzzle.

ED’s SELECTION:

JW Anderson Oversized Shell Bomber Jacket

JW Anderson Men’s Straight-Leg Jeans

Christian Dior Vintage Gold-plated Bracelet

Loewe Cotton Corduroy-trimmed Checked Wool-blend Padded Jacket

Loewe Men’s High-Rise Cargo Shorts

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Haute Refinement. Dior Men AW25

January 29, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Kim Jones‘ sensational Dior Men collection is exactly what happens when a designer is unburdened from another super-demanding job (meaning Fendi, the Roman brand where the British designer just couldn’t find his rhythm). This autumn-winter 2025 menswear collection was evidently thoroughly considered and planned, like an haute couture outing. The most stunning silhouette was either a trouser nor a skirt. It was a coat, worn backward, with the collar creating a kind of asymmetric cummerbund, the tucked-in sleeves forming “pockets,” and buttons running down the back. The silk-ribbon blindfold some of the models wore gave a pinch of extra-seduction. If only Dior womenswear was this good. Maybe when – as the rumor has it – Jonathan Anderson takes helm?

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Nureyev Would Approve. Dior Men AW24

January 21, 2024January 21, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Autumn-winter 2024 collection might be Kim Jones‘ finest endeavor to date at Dior Men. There were 40 ready-to-wear looks and 20 couture, and according to the show notes, through the idea Rudolf Nureyev’s personal life and onstage persona, Jones explored an “idea of two lives lived … the world of the couture reflects the extravagance of his stage presence, of Nureyev’s flamboyance, insolence and elegance”. With the theatrical staging and dramatic soundtrack – a “revisiting” of Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev’s music from the ballet Romeo and Juliet, courtesy of modern day composer Max Richter – in the background, Jones delivered a line-up that not only mused on Nureyev’s style, but also yet again gracefully told a story of queer experience. The ballet dancer’s off-duty, 70s style of zip-up suits was replicated in zipped wool jumpsuits in shades of dove-grey. The magnificent silver uchikake kimono was based on one Nureyev – a collector of vintage textiles – owned. It apparently took 10 craftspeople in Japan three months to complete. The garments were embellished with pearls or awed with the richness of croc-embossed leather. Sheer, metallic mesh tops with floor-sweeping veils were worn with louchely tailored trousers and overcoats with crystal embroideries. Some models wore velvet headwraps; the footwear was all about, you guessed it, ballet shoes. Interestingly, Jones and Nureyev have a brief, yet crucial family connection: Jones’s uncle was the ballet dancer and photographer Colin Jones, whose pictures of Nureyev, driving, reading, chatting on the phone, as well as dancing, formed a book left on each seat for the show’s guests. This outing was definitely one of the most enchanting moments of the menswear Paris Fashion Week, along with phenomenal Rick Owens’ at-home show.

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