Dear All,
it’s been a long time since my last post on Substack. I had gone to Japan for a film project there on snowboard and drawing with the pro-rider Victor Daviet, film and photo crew for Arc’Teryx. It was incredible and still blow my mind. I’ll tell you all about it very soon, with images and the project currently in progress.
When I came back, I had many posts I wanted to share with you, but the one that immediately stood out to me was the emotion—or rather, the emotions—I felt when discovering the latest Dior show (Spring 2026 Couture) designed by J. W. Anderson. It had been a very long time since I had felt something like that. I rediscovered all the energy and freshness of John Galliano’s early shows at the same house, but also the full historical legacy of Christian Dior, as well as the fabulous, flower-covered show by Raf Simons.
The harmony and the incredibly vibrant overall feeling of the show were of a rare and exhilarating beauty, especially in times shaken by pessimism. There was also a strong emphasis on craftsmanship, at every scale and across all possible textures. It feels so good to look at—like living paintings, like works of art in motion—an homage to the beauty of nature and its jewels, flowers, as well as to all the artistic heritages of the house. I could also have spoken about the departure of Pieter Mulier of the house of Alaïa, whose work remains, to me, fundamental and immensely pleasurable. There was also the latest show of Véronique Nichanian for the house of Hermès (after 40 years), and many others I’m forgetting to write about here.
Reverence and iconoclasm. Successful modern heritage brand reinventions require a balance of those primary ingredients. At his haute couture debut for Christian Dior, Jonathan Anderson reminded us of his gifts for both. Before it started he recalled a story his father recently reminded him of: Young Jonathan asked his parents for the Yellow Pages, or the Irish equivalent, and he went through them, looking for the name John Galliano. When he found it, he called up. He was going to ask if he could come and intern, only it turned out it was a taxi service.
I regret not having been able to see this collection in person when it was later exhibited at the Rodin Museum.
Here, you can see the sketches I wanted to share, with all these textural effects on the fabrics, as if they were giant petals. Of course, there are also all the jewelry details I would have liked to draw in more depth, but I couldn’t do everything for now—maybe I’ll return to them soon. Don’t worry, I’ll make up for the delay in posts caused by my absence with new content.
Thank you again for your support and your presence.
Love,
These are beautiful, Frederic!
Phenomenal piece on Anderson's work. The way the collection balances Dior's archival DNA with Anderson's craft-first sensibility is fascinating bc it avoids the nostalgia trap most heritage brands fall into. I've noticed that collections with this level of tactile depth (like the petal textures) tend to photograph beautifully but often lose their impact in secondary markets, where texture gets flatened. The craftsmanship piece is what really seperates couture revivals.