Northern Ireland native Jonathan Anderson has been appointed the new creative director of French fashion house Dior. The brand announced this on its social media accounts.
The 40-year-old fashion designer will take over from Maria Grazia Chiuri, who has been the women’s line director for almost 10 years. Anderson became the designer of the men’s line in April. Now, his responsibilities will include the women’s line and couture.
Before showing his first women’s collection for the house during Paris Fashion Week in October, the designer will debut with a men’s show on June 27.
“The fashion house has not had a single creative director since Christian Dior, and we think now is the time to fix that. Jonathan is the most talented designer of his generation,” said Dior CEO Delphine Arnault in an interview with Vogue Business about the new appointment.
As a reminder, Jonathan Anderson debuted as the designer of his brand, JW Anderson, in 2008. In 2013, he became the creative director of the Spanish fashion house Loewe, which, like Dior, is part of the LVMH holding company. The designer left Loewe earlier this year.
Anderson also took on large-scale projects, such as creating outfits for Rihanna for the 2023 Super Bowl and costumes for Luca Guadagnino’s film. The same year, he won the CFDA Fashion Awards in the International Designer of the Year category and received the British Fashion Award.
Interestingly, Jonathan Anderson will now be working at an incredible pace. According to Business of Fashion estimates, he will create as many as 18 collections each year: 10 for Dior (including two couture and eight ready-to-wear), 6 for his brand JW Anderson, and two more in collaboration with Uniqlo. This workload makes him, without exaggeration, the most sought-after designer since Karl Lagerfeld.
Dior brings LVMH four times more revenue than Loewe, so the new role significantly expands Anderson’s responsibilities. In addition, the designer has the difficult task of returning Dior to financial growth. According to Bernstein analyst Luca Solca, the brand’s sales fell by 12–15% in the first quarter of 2025. The expert sees the reason for this in a significant price increase — by an average of 51% — which forced many customers to choose travel or jewelry instead of Dior clothing.