I love Dior. I always have. Founded in 1946, the house has given us decades of beautiful clothes and unforgettable fashion moments. The recent collections have also been memorable, and Jonathan Anderson is the man behind them.
Jonathan Anderson grew up in Northern Ireland. His father captained Ireland’s rugby team, and his mother taught English. But his grandfather designed textiles and while watching him screen print fabrics was a part of his youth, fashion was not his original passion.
He wanted to act. However, while working on a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Washington, D.C., Jonathan found himself spending more time with the costume department than at rehearsals. This new found interest moved him to London where studied and graduated from London College of Fashion in 2005. He then worked in visual merchandising at Prada under Manuela Pavesi.
In 2008, Jonathan launched JW Anderson, a menswear label whose collections included skirts, dresses and bustiers, helping establish him as a designer willing to take risks. Naturally, womenswear followed in 2010.
Three years later, Loewe hired him as creative director. Over the next decade, he helped turn the Spanish leather goods house into one of fashion’s most coveted brands. Jonathan designed the Puzzle bag, still one of Loewe’s most recognizable accessories, and made his love of ceramics and textiles part of the brand’s identity. In 2016, he created the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize. Inspired by Loewe’s beginnings as an artisanal workshop, the prize celebrates exceptional craftsmanship and new ideas across disciplines, including ceramics, jewelry and textiles.
While working at Loewe, Jonathan continued running his own label, and in 2015, he became the first designer to win both Menswear and Womenswear Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards for his namesake label.
Then there was the cardigan.
In 2020, Harry Styles wore a colorful patchwork cardigan designed by JW Anderson while rehearsing for the Today show. The sweater gained attention and fans started making their own versions and sharing them on social media. The videos went viral, and Anderson responded by releasing the pattern and a tutorial for free. The sweater, and the knitting hysteria, became a cultural phenomenon that landed JW’s cardigan in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s permanent collection.
Jonathan Anderson was appointed creative director of Dior in 2025, becoming the first designer to oversee the house’s menswear, womenswear and haute couture collections together, since Christian Dior himself. That means he designs approximately ten Dior collections a year, alongside his own label!
His appointment brought the collections under one artistic vision unifying the house. He has reinterpreted historical designs and brought his own approach to the heritage label, creating a more romantic and modern aesthetic to Dior.
Jennifer Lawrence called the white Dior gown she wore to the 2025 Governors Awards her favorite dress ever. Sabrina Carpenter wore his Dior design incorporating film strips from Sabrina to the 2026 Met Gala, and Taylor Swift walked down the aisle in a wedding dress he designed. (Yes, I DO want to see the photos!)
Clearly, this man isn’t slowing down. With the Dior archives at his disposal and a work ethic that never seems to quit, Jonathan Anderson is a designer we’ll be seeing more of. And that’s a beautiful thing.
