“We have some very exciting news,” says Delphine Arnault, chair and CEO of Christian Dior Couture, as she sits down with Vogue Business. “Jonathan Anderson is going to be the head of creation for Dior, across men’s and women’s, couture and accessories.”

On Thursday, the house announced that Maria Grazia Chiuri would be stepping down from her position as creative director of women’s haute couture, ready-to-wear and accessories. Kim Jones left the brand in January, and Anderson was confirmed as artistic director of the men’s collections in April. “Over the last 11 years that he has been at LVMH, we have had many discussions about what he wanted to do next. And there was always one brand he was very attracted to,” says Arnault. “We think this is the right moment to make this appointment. He is the most talented designer of his generation. He has great experience within the LVMH Group and in managing large teams through his work at Loewe, even though he is only 40. More importantly, he has a very clear vision for the brand.”

Now, with a single artistic director for both womenswear and men’s, the house returns to the organisation it had in the days of Christian Dior, Arnault notes. “I think this is going to be great for the maison. There will be consistency and coherence in the products, but also in terms of communication, I think our message will be much clearer,” she says. “Of course, it’s a big responsibility, there’s a lot of connections that need to be made. For any house, having new artistic direction can be a challenge. It takes a few seasons to see exactly what the vision is. But I think he’s totally energised by the idea.”

Arnault continues: “He can rely on our great team – we have amazing studios with amazing creatives, the best in the world of haute couture, ready-to-wear, across men’s and women’s. And he’s also bringing a team of people he trusts that have been working with him for a while.”

Anderson was appointed creative director of LVMH-owned Loewe in September 2013. He was then a 29-year-old designer with a fledgling business. He created his namesake brand JW Anderson in 2008, in which LVMH took a minority stake in 2013. “I remember meeting him for the first time in a showroom in Paris, where he was showing JW Anderson. He must have been 23 or 24 years old,” Arnault reminisces. “He had rented a small apartment by Gare du Nord, on the fourth floor. I rang the door and he opened. He was younger, but the same as today: very talkative, with a great vision and very mature for his age, very impressive. That’s when we decided to invest in his brand and later to appoint him at Loewe.”

During his tenure, Loewe became one of luxury’s hottest fashion brands. His spring/summer 2025 show received a standing ovation from many of his peers (Sarah Burton, Pieter Mulier, Adrian Appiolaza, Nicolas Di Felice, Kris Van Assche, Pharrell Williams and Michael Rider, each in attendance) as well as Arnault. Loewe’s sales went from approximately €230 million in 2014, according to Morgan Stanley estimates, to between €1.5 billion and €2 billion in 2024, per estimates of Bernstein analyst Luca Solca. Loewe still ranked first in the Lyst Index of the hottest brands in the first quarter of 2025. Anderson’s exit from Loewe was announced in March, and a week later, he was replaced by Proenza Schouler founders Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez.​​

“Jonathan did a very impressive job putting Loewe back on the map,” Arnault notes. “He was able to find the right mix of tradition and modernity for that brand, working on craftsmanship, elevating the quality and creating beautiful products. He worked also on the Craft Prize and has done wonders in developing the brand not only in terms of product but in terms of communication.”

Can Anderson recreate the same magic at Dior? After years of tremendous growth – revenue went from €2.2 billion in 2017 to €9.5 billion in 2023, according to HSBC estimates – Dior has been hit by the luxury downturn and global turmoil. Sales decreased to €8.7 billion in 2024, per HSBC. In the first quarter, sales of LVMH’s fashion and leather goods division were down 5 per cent, positioning the group’s fashion business in the middle of a polarised market. “Dior has to be revived,” Solca told Vogue Business back in April.

The house now appears to have everything in place for a revival. It recently hired Pierre-Emmanuel Angeloglou as deputy CEO in April, after poaching Miu Miu CEO Benedetta Petruzzo in October to be its managing director. Both executives report to Arnault.

Anderson, who has a reputation as a hard-working and brilliant designer, surely has the ability to blend in with the Dior DNA, juggling its strong heritage and codes. “Ever since he started working on menswear back in February, he’s been spending a lot of time in the archives looking at all the different elements of the brand that the different designers at its helm over the years have developed – like Christian Dior or Yves Saint Laurent, John Galliano, Raf Simons,” Arnault says.

Besides facing the challenge of working across men’s and women’s lines, Anderson will also earn his couture stripes as Dior is among the handful of houses to have turned couture into a thriving business. And while he hasn’t been at a couture house before, Anderson is known for his conceptual shows and couture spirit, especially visible in his spring/summer 2025 show, which featured “reimagined French golden age couture dresses, all hoops and semi-sheer flower prints”, as Vogue Runway’s Sarah Mower described them. The fashion world will have to wait until January 2026 to see Anderson’s first couture designs for Dior, as the house is going to skip the couture season in July. “Maria Grazia had 20 couture dresses in her cruise show, which have kept the atelier busy,” Arnault says.

Arnault also confirmed that Anderson’s first women’s show for Dior will be during the all-important September season. “In the 25 years I’ve been working in fashion, there have never been so many creative changes,” she muses. “We will see the visions of so many different artistic directors for the industry. I think it’s going to bring up a lot of emotion and excitement. And that’s what fashion is about.” Anderson will find himself head-on with Matthieu Blazy at Chanel, alongside a number of other high-stake debuts.

Anderson’s first menswear show for Dior will be in June, as previously reported. Would Dior ever stage co-ed? “I think for the time being we’re going to keep it separate. You never know what can happen, but we don’t have any plans to reduce the number of shows,” Arnault replies. What about JW Anderson – will he be staying at the helm? “It’s his namesake brand, so obviously it is a project that is really important to him. Yes, he’s going to stay involved in JW Anderson, but maybe in a different way. I think this would be more of a question for him.”

Watch this space.