Inside the Dior Spring/Summer 2026 Men’s Show: JW Anderson’s Big Debut

A new chapter at Dior. During a season defined by transition and tension, JW Anderson’s debut as the creative director of Dior marks a pivotal moment – not just for the house, but for the direction of fashion at large. Known for his ability to blur boundaries between masculinity and femininity, craft and concept, Anderson brings a distinct voice to one of fashion’s most storied maisons. With responsibility for both menswear and womenswear, his arrival signals a unified vision – rooted in heritage, but with eyes firmly set on the future.

Modern Culture of Tomorrow takes a closer look at Dior’s Men’s Spring/Summer 2026 collection…

No Perfume But Joy Regardless

The location was built to resemble the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin with two paintings Jean Siméon Chardin, almost ordinary in their subjects, one depicting a bowl of strawberries, the other a vase filled with flowers. At a time where art was more concerned with excess and spectacle, Chardin chose to focus on the little everyday things. This is the message embodied by the Dior Spring/Summer 2026 menswear collection: Finding joy in the little things, the act of getting dressed up every day. Experimenting with things from the past and from now, with 18th and 19th century-inspired waist coats to ties and jackets.

Dressing Or Dressing Up?

This collection is proposing a reconstructed formality. Models that look a little bit like boys dressing up as their father, young aristocrats, who enjoy putting on a tie, but don’t know yet how to properly, resulting in a messy look. Trousers that seem too big without looking custom-y, though, bow ties on bare necks with a suit jacket, no shirt and socks in sandals. Instead of formal clothes restricting, these designs remind of a childlike joy when dressing up.

Passing The Bar Test

While the Bar jacket, a silhouette so deeply Dior that it is one of the most recognised silhouettes of the house, has made a couple of appearances in previous men’s collections, it seems none of them have made as deep an impression as the Spring/Summer 2026 now. Whether that is to a more pronounced shape around the hips or the styling with extra voluminous shorts is hard to say, but all that matters is that JW Anderson already managed to take a Dior classic and present it in a new, contemporary way while simultaneously strongly drawing from the past.

Where Does That Leave Us?

And while – or maybe because – there won’t be a Dior Couture collection this summer, it is safe to say that all heads will turn towards the Dior catwalk in September/October to see Jonathan’s first women’s collection for the house. What many hope is that with one creative director overseeing both men’s and women’s, the two lines will look like they are one another’s counterpart instead of ex-lovers who simply grew apart. We, for one, simply can not wait…

Here are more of our favorite looks:

Image credits: Dior