In the world of fashion, where mediocrity has never had admittance and talent counts only when it is served in a properly framed Parisian crystal glass, there is news that electrifies the aesthetic elite of the globe: Jonathan Anderson takes over as creative director of the women's line of the House of Fashion Dior.
Jonathan Anderson is not just a designer. He is a fashion intellectual. An aesthete who, instead of designing for the masses, designs for a select few. Over the years, his collections for Loewe have resembled essays rather than campaigns - with a subtlety reminiscent of Susan Sontag's work and a structural boldness worthy of Berthold Brecht. This is a man who was able to turn sculptural minimalism into an act of contemplation. His fashion is not a message - it is a cultural code, accessible only to those who know what it means to look.
This is not a change. This is upheaval - velvety, but full of intellectual tension. Jonathan doesn't design clothes. He conceptualizes them. He creates narratives that can only be read between the seams. In a world where fashion increasingly says "for everyone," Anderson reminds us that not everything has to be understood by the crowd. Sometimes - as in art - what is most valuable is only available to those with the right keys.
Anderson is a man who can speak with form as others speak with words. He is not afraid of ugliness if it leads to beauty. He is not afraid of silence in a world of shouting. And he certainly won't be afraid to rewrite the definition of femininity in a way that doesn't follow the trend, but anticipates it.
Dior admirers can rest easy. But those who dream of fashion as a realm of thought, concept and contemplation have just woken up - in the new Andersonian era of haute couture.
Photos courtesy of Le Monde
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