Last season, Jonathan Anderson made a distinctly cinematic debut at the house of Dior, inviting guests to take a trip down memory lane through a horror-tinged film by Adam Curtis, collaging Dior’s history. For the designer’s sophomore womenswear outing, he returned to Jardin des Tuileries, this time transforming the Parisian landmark into a garden even more tranquil than the one which already exists. A plynth built atop a pond full of giant lily pads and lotus flowers formed this season’s runway, with guests taking to their seats around the circular body of water under a glass roof – on the hottest day of the year so far, might we add. As is customary with Dior, A-List talent was out in full force. Man of the moment Paul Anthony Kelly sat alongside the likes of Anya Taylor-Joy, Macaulay Culkin, Pedro Almodóvar, Robert Aramayo, Priyanka Chopra, 070 Shake and Sophie Wilde. 

As the sun beat down, the Eiffel Tower and Place de la Concorde glistened in the background, the set alone confirming that Anderson was about to deliver something special. The Tuileries itself stood at the centre of this season’s collection, originally commissioned by Queen Catherine de’ Medici and later redesigned at Louis XIV’s request. In 1667, the gardens opened to the public for the first time. A monarch famously obsessed by vanity, the dress code issued by the King of France required visitors to wear clothing only appropriate to their respective social ranks, a language that Anderson reimagined for his FW26 collection. 

The idea of the gaze was explored tenfold, imagining what one would want to be seen wearing in the gardens, a place inherently designed for display. Whether observed by onlookers also eager to be seen or by the artificial audience of the 18th-century statues, Anderson’s garments certainly commanded attention yesterday afternoon. Opening with a series of billowing tulle skirts which cut high on the thigh in the front and descended into a floor-length train in the back, which were paired with variations on the classic Bar Jacket, in a continuation of last season’s standout silhouette. Outerwear arrived ruffled from the collar, accented with feathered trims, cinched at the waist by a peplum cut, and anchored by bows – a trope reminiscent of Anderson’s crinoline dresses from SS26.

Florals were quite literally everywhere. Botanical patterns were encrusted on jeans in intricate beading, pink petals bloomed from dresses at the hip or shoulder, while lily pads were fashioned as glass brooches and pinned to garments. Silk jacquard prints walked alongside plush velvets and soft-hued tweeds, as the colour palette subtly shifted from muted neutrals to an array of punchy pastels. Across the Tuileries, Jonathan Anderson’s Dior woman makes spectacle a walk in the park.