Neither Loewe nor JW Anderson did runway shows this season, which people interpreted as a sign that Jonathan Anderson was gearing up to leave — and in fact early this morning news broke that he has done just that. Whispers have long him moving into a new job at Dior, even though, once again, Maria Grazia Chiuri has not been fired. Maybe she will be, but if I were her, I’d be like, “GUYS I AM STILL HERE, WTF.” Personally, I’d have been curious to see what he did with Gucci, but that ship has sailed; maybe if MGC can hold on at Dior long enough, Anderson will, say, resurrect Moschino, which has languished since Jeremy Scott left. But that doesn’t feel like quite so much as a stretch, so what would the appeal be for Anderson? Honestly he should probably just go on vacation. (Also, Chanel replaced Virginie with a man, Versace just announced Dario Vitale as Donatella’s successor, and McQueen hired Seàn McGirr to replace Sarah Burton; yes, she landed at Givenchy, but that’s still quite the dudefest, which Anderson-to-Dior would make even worse.)
Anyway, this show felt a little bit soulless, due to the faceless mannequins and/or empty space wearing the clothes — a macabre way to walk away from a brand, and symbolically implying you’re leaving it empty.
