Jonathan Anderson has a particular gift. He anthropomorphises simple visual cues into full narratives. A photograph becomes a silhouette. A book cover, a pattern. It’s an instinct that serves him well at Dior, a house he has been tasked not only with steering into its next narrative era but also unifying under a singular vision. In a post-reference industry – one where designers can no longer simply borrow from the archive but must craft new stories in familiar languages – that gift becomes essential. Dior’s Menswear Pre-Fall 2026 collection is a perfect example
Interim collections are often considered commercial breaks from a designer’s true vision. Here, Anderson chooses to follow a different path. Instead of projecting a watered-down, commercially intended version of his debut, he continues to experiment. Pre-Fall 2026 isn’t just a sequel, it’s more of an anthological continuation.
There are, of course, recurring characters. The unforgettable, voluminous shorts of Spring/Summer – inspired by the pleating on the 1948 Delft dress – return, somehow even more charismatic. Their loud silhouette is now amplified with printed iterations. A dainty rosebud pattern, being one of them, and an engorged crest, being another.
If in his previous proposals, an academic sensibility was made American through a minimal approach, here it transcends to a European myth. Embroidered vest and jacket sets feel right at home in a palace in Ile Saint-Louis, where the collection was shot. Referring to romance at Dior isn’t new; one could even say it’s a staple of the Maison, but Anderson’s touch brings a lightness. Crests are comedically amplified, and polos have their collars popped. Period silhouettes are made of denim, and gold buckles glimmer atop colourful shorts.
However, the Irish designer shines the brightest when he uses silhouette as a medium, distorting the body’s proportions through clothing. A leather blazer juts out at the hip, no doubt inspired by the bar jacket that defines the Maison’s earliest days. But this isn’t a mere reference. Anderson finds common ground with the founder of the brand he now leads.
Words by Pedro Vasconcelos
