If you needed a sign that fashion is leaning hard into spectacle and nostalgia at the same time, look no further than Jonathan Anderson's debut cruise show for Dior. The newly appointed creative director chose Los Angeles as his backdrop - and then packed it with enough star power and Americana to make your head spin.
Why LA, why now?
There's something deliberate about choosing Los Angeles for a first major statement. The city is equal parts myth and reality, a place where glamour and grit exist on the same block. For Anderson, known for his intellectually playful work at Loewe, it reads as a smart provocation - taking one of Paris's most storied fashion houses and planting it firmly on the West Coast, somewhere between a movie lot and a drive-through.
According to Vanity Fair's coverage, the show leaned into old Hollywood imagery with real commitment. This wasn't a vague aesthetic nod - it was a full embrace, complete with the kind of cinematic ambition that makes a fashion show feel like an event worth remembering.
Al Pacino and In-N-Out - yes, really
The guest list reportedly included Al Pacino, which is the kind of detail that tells you everything about the tone Anderson was going for. Not just celebrity adjacency, but genuine Hollywood legacy. The presence of In-N-Out Burgers at a Dior event is either the most LA thing imaginable or a quietly brilliant piece of cultural commentary - probably both.
It's the sort of move that could only work if you commit to it completely, and by all accounts, Anderson did exactly that.
What this means for Dior going forward
Anderson's appointment at Dior has been one of the most watched moves in fashion, and this show suggests he's not interested in playing it safe or simply honoring the archive. He's clearly thinking about Dior as a house that can hold contradictions - haute couture heritage alongside California casualness, European refinement sitting comfortably next to American pop culture.
Cruise collections are often seen as the commercial backbone of a luxury house, designed to sell rather than to provoke. Anderson seems determined to make them matter creatively too. If his first outing is any indication, he's treating every show as a chance to reshape what Dior means in 2025 and beyond.
It's early days, but the LA show signals something exciting - a designer who understands that fashion's power lies in its ability to make culture, not just reflect it.
