Dior In Bloom: Jonathan Anderson Unveils His Debut Couture Collection

The Spring/Summer 2026 edition of Paris Haute Couture Week is off to a spectacular start thanks to Jonathan Anderson, who earlier today unveiled his first-ever couture collection—both as creative director of Dior, and of his career thus far.

His chosen theme for such a momentous occasion? Florals—but bigger and bolder than we’ve ever seen from him before. Flower power was everywhere, from the elegant ribbon-tied posies sent to guests as the invite (directly inspired by a recent gift from former Dior creative director John Galliano, no less) and the cyclamen-covered ceiling of the Musée Rodin venue to, naturally, the collection itself.

As big-name celebrities including Rihanna, Jennifer Lawrence, Greta Lee and Anya Taylor-Joy looked on from the front row, models opened the show in dramatic, bulb-like gowns with delicate lilac flowers cascading onto their shoulders. Silhouettes then softened into romantic mini-dresses made up of ruffles reminiscent of petals, before bursts of florals appeared as earrings, bags and shoes, as well as in exquisite embroidery on silk gowns, architectural skirts, blooming bodices and statement brooches.

It was a floral fantasy for the ages—and an epic display of the French luxury maison's savoir-faire. “I feel like I’m doing a PhD in couture,” Anderson told The Business of Fashion ahead of the show. “Every day you are learning the process of something that has been done for so long in France. It is a kind of an institution in itself.”

That sense of reverence was matched by emotion. “For me, it’s a very emotional process because I think it’s something that is steeped in history—people who have been working for many, many designers inside this house who are still here,” said Anderson. "There’s probably five or six houses in the world at that scale. It’s intimidating. It’s scary. I feel a bit, as you said, [like an] imposter. I think I’ll still feel intimidated until the show is done.”

And in an industry increasingly driven by speed and scale, Anderson was clear about couture’s wider purpose. “Couture is kind of like an endangered craft, a kind of mindset, a mythology and making with hand…" he told BOF. "Dior couture needs to exist because they are practising a skill that if we don’t practise, would disappear.”

For that is the beauty of couture, after all: free from the constraints of commerciality and a celebration of exceptional craft, it creates the optimal conditions for a designer’s imagination to truly run wild—and, at its best, the results, like today’s, are nothing short of extraordinary.