If you ever wondered what it would look like if luxury fashion hired an elegant and bored interior decorator, Jonathan Anderson’s first Dior campaign answers that question with astonishing clarity. Handbags swing from music stands and football players settle under Christian Dior portraits, but nothing really looks as exciting as this sounds.
The Dior SS26 dazzled, but as far as the environment goes, the campaign keeps its excitement… in check. Good thing the cast’s subtle body-language speaks louder than the décor. Mbappé chilling in an easy chair almost hugging his new Normandie Tote Bag, Paul Kircher pretending the bar jacket and big bow neckband are gateways to some romantic nirvana, Louis Garrel in a green knitted cape and striped shirt, mastering the existential lounging aesthetic. Greta Lee spinning, stomping, and socializing with the tiles, all in the name of the new Dior heels, Saar Mansvelt and Sunday Rose nestling into a couch having a laugh in a patterned cape and a black-and-white shirt armed with Lady Dior and Cigale bags, and Laura Kaiser standing above it all in denim. Leave it to David Sims to make handbags, couches, and a cast of barely-moving actors look like editorial material.
Nothing here demands attention, and that feels very much on purpose. When everyone looks slightly bored, half-relaxed and unbothered by their surroundings, the clothes start sinking in. The body language slows everything down, giving the viewers space to digest the clothing at their own pace. This is how high fashion flirts with being cool and vaguely relatable, by borrowing faces from other universes and naturally placing them in Dior. Athletes, actors, models, all blended in. Rather than pushing Dior into a new identity, Jonathan Anderson lets the house’s classic codes exist in a looser state filled with elegance that pays homage and the freshness he brings to the table. Little is going on, and that’s apparently the idea. The absence of spectacle feels like a statement in itself.
