Jonathan Anderson donned the Ireland rugby top at the end of his show in Milan. Picture from Jonathan Anderson/Instagram
Bernard Arnault announced the appointment at LVMH’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Paris, telling the press that the Irish designer will create the June collection for Dior Men’s Fashion.
The Magherafelt native has officially taken up the mantle following months of rumours and his departure from LVMH’s smaller label, Loewe, which was announced on March 17.
First hinted via a cryptic Instagram post in December 2024, now captioned ‘sunset’, the rumour mill was in full swing by the end of Paris Fashion Week 2025.
Fashion fans and forecasters had noted that the sheer volume of collections Anderson creates had slowed, suggesting that a new position was in the works.
Anderson’s eponymous label JW Anderson had sat out London Fashion Week earlier this year, and Loewe held a co-ed presentation, rather than a traditional runway show, on 10 March.
The ambitious Northern Irish designer has spent the last 11 years as Creative Director of Loewe, has collaborated with Uniqlo since 2017, all the while remaining the head of JW Anderson.
Established in 2008, JW Anderson began as an elaborate collection of accessories before progressing to menswear and then womenswear by 2010, and presenting in 2011.
He was notable for his unique design aesthetic, which saw him cut and paste different elements of both menswear and womenswear to create silhouettes that are often a blend of both. It will be interesting to see how his known disdain for making dresses fares at a house like Dior.
Anderson has mentioned in previous interviews that life in the small town of Magherafelt spurred on his ambitions, coupled with trips to the Balearic Island of Ibiza.
His parents noted that he was ‘animal crazy,’ a motif that still features in his work: his very first accessories collection featured encased insects – an injection of humour when fashion can be overly serious.
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