The jolly mess of Dior Homme's FW26 show Jonathan Anderson surely had his fun with volumes and proportions
«Why, as men, do we dress the way we do?» Jonathan Anderson asked himself while creating the Dior Homme FW26 collection that just walked in Paris. Yet the real question he should have tried to answer was probably: «What does the Dior man represent?». Today’s answer came in the form of strass tops referencing old Paul Poiret garments, masculine adaptations of the Bar Jacket with undeniably flattering proportions, wide faux-fur cuffs trimming coat sleeves, wool sweaters as long as tunics, and even a capelet turned into a voluminous parka. No doubt about it: choices were made.
A question of immediacy
The plain truth is that we didn’t quite understand this collection. The feeling is that, alongside his usual tricks, the talented Anderson decided to tear a page from Rei Kawakubo’s book, emphasizing unusual proportions: cargo jeans with front button closures creating the optical illusion of a rounded silhouette, long neon-yellow mullet wigs, and a series of skirts or skirt-like pieces for men that brought out the most genderfluid and queer side of the brand.
Next came a series of aesthetic choices that may have puzzled the uninitiated while being perfectly clear to those familiar with Anderson’s art. In no particular order: optical white trousers, hourglass nylon jackets featuring fur and damask prints; shirts perfectly wearable except for shoulder details with sparkling tassels, coats draped with colorful scarves as large as tablecloths, shiny satin trousers in peach or kaleidoscopic patterns, iridescent caftans worn over jeans. Anderson’s genius left virtually no piece of the menswear wardrobe untouched. Even ribbed men’s leggings appeared on the runway.
But what did we like the most?
There were pieces we loved more, perhaps because they felt more familiar aesthetically: a naval jacket with a Napoleonic vibe entirely lined in shearling, a very sharp and short blazer, suits that appear to be in pony hair or velours, a couple of slim knitted wool jackets that might suit very few physiques, a beautiful oversized green fishtail parka lined with white fur, a pair of stunning long coats that appeared toward the finale, genuinely desirable. The bags were beautiful too.
According to the show notes, the collection should be «a game of unbridled associations, connecting unlikely elements and letting old and new collide with spontaneous ease». An euphemistic but accurate phrase: the associations are indeed unbridled, the elements are indeed unlikely, and old and new do indeed collide. The results are plain to see.
Revealing without explaining
Perhaps the writer is not fully grasping the overall meaning of what just walked the runway. There were truly many ideas on the catwalk, and it’s clear that Anderson chose a vast array of references and allusions that may be too numerous to process in a first, inevitably superficial reading. This is evidently a collection that requires prolonged contemplation before it can be fully understood.
It does seem, however, that this show marked a shift in vision within the Dior Homme ateliers. If the first two collections suggested Anderson wanted to blend the preppy world with certain late-18th-century aristocratic codes, mixed with proportions borrowed from skatewear, the new show took a completely different direction: more modern, more androgynous, with strongly conceptual pieces conceived more for dream than for everyday life.
Will the commercial collection be different? We don’t know. What matters (Dior’s management might say) is that the product sells. In these confusing times, when it’s no longer possible to determine what is right-side-up or upside-down, and when distinguishing between aesthetically challenging and appealing has become synonymous with rigidity and conservative thinking, why rush to judgment? If we are not yet ready to appreciate the many layers and semantic richness of this show, the market will be.
