It's not about clothes, but about identity. Photographed by David Sims, the Spring Summer 2026 campaign translates the new creative direction into a concept of style as behaviour.

With his first global campaign for Dior, Jonathan Anderson takes a step beyond presenting a collection: he showcases a concept of identity. The Spring/Summer 2026 campaign, photographed by David Sims , doesn't simply showcase clothes and accessories, but visually translates the "recoding" of the house announced by the new creative director. It's a debut that speaks softly but precisely, suggesting Anderson's intention to rethink Dior not as an untouchable, monumental brand, but as a living language. The images, in black and white and colour, function as conceptual sketches. They are neither narrative in the traditional sense nor overtly spectacular. Sims constructs spare photographs, where meaning is conveyed through the posture of the bodies, the distance between the subjects, and the air surrounding them. The setting is pared down to the essentials: wood panelling, parquet floors, sparse furnishings and understated fabrics. A hinted, rather than declared, aristocracy that harks back to a history of cultural rather than economic privilege.

A diverse cast moves within these spaces: actresses like Greta Lee, actors like Louis Garrel and Paul Kircher, a global sports icon like Kylian Mbapp&eacute;, alongside models Laura Kaiser, Sunday Rose&nbsp;and Saar Mansvelt Beck. Figures who don't pose in the shots, but "inhabit" the image. They appear at rest, rehearsing, in a moment of transition-as if caught between one version of themselves and another. It's a suspension that harks back to theatre and cinema, but also to the idea, dear to Anderson, of identity as a daily construction. The visual fulcrum of the campaign is the architecture of the garments. The silhouettes are rigorously studied, yet never rigid; the fabrics invite you to touch them, rather than admire them from afar. The dialogue between past and present-an inevitable theme for Dior-is embodied through archive references juxtaposed with contemporary elements. The Bar jacket, a founding symbol of the house, coexists with Delft shorts; more formal tailoring meets piping shirts, softened denim and knitted capes. It's a lexicon that doesn't erase history, but uses it as a material, not a constraint.

Anderson's touch is evident in this balance between grandeur and everydayness. Always interested in what makes a garment "lived-in," the designer seems to want to move Dior from the realm of the ideal to that of the possible. Elegance, here, is not performative but behavioural. It's not so much what you wear, but how you wear it. Accessories also contribute to this character-building process. Bags, from the tasselled Lady Dior to the Cigale with its miniaturised bow, to the Crunchy, the Bow, and the Diorly -seem to possess a personality of their own. They aren't mere complements, but narrative tools that add nuance to the characters. In keeping with a less iconic and more relational vision of luxury, they don't dominate the image, but complicate it.

What emerges most clearly is the idea of a "clique" evoked by the campaign. A group of individuals united not by a uniform aesthetic, but by a shared attitude. A sense of freedom in dressing, a willingness to play, to transform. It's a subtle yet strategic message at a time when major fashion houses are seeking new ways to reach fragmented and informed audiences. Ultimately, Jonathan Anderson's first campaign for Dior doesn't offer definitive answers about his creative direction, but it raises the right questions. What does it mean to inherit a historic house today? How do you reconcile the weight of the archive with the desire for contemporary relevance? And above all, how do you construct a style that's not just recognisable, but habitable? The answer, at least for now, seems to be this: style as behaviour, as personal intuition, as a daily act of interpretation. In other words, asa &nbsp;character.

All the photos from the Dior Spring Summer 2026 campaign

Inside Jonathan Anderson’s First Dior Campaign

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