Rihanna, Jennifer Lawrence and a Paris runway full of bras

Rihanna, centre, and Camille Cottin, centre right, watch the Christian Dior Womenswear Spring Summer 2027 collection presented in Paris, France, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. (AP Photo-Thomas Padilla)

Rihanna, Jennifer Lawrence, Rosalía and Cynthia Erivo were among the stars in the front row Tuesday as Dior designer Jonathan Anderson presented 65 looks for spring on a runway built across a pond in Paris’ Tuileries Garden.

The collection explored a deliberately unfinished style, with the idea that luxury can sometimes come from leaving clothes partly undone.

Trees rose from the water while artificial fog covered the runway as Paris temperatures reached 82 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees Celsius).

The opening outfit set the tone: a white pinstriped double-breasted jacket worn over a striped shirt and short cream skirt. The shirt was left untucked and the outfit appeared loosely put together.

Bras were visible beneath open jackets, shirts were buttoned unevenly, and pajama-style piping appeared along the edges of tailored pieces.

Even the hems looked as if they had been blown by the wind.

A relaxed take on Dior

The collection was a major departure from the style established by Christian Dior, who founded the fashion house in 1946 and introduced the iconic New Look a year later. The look featured fitted Bar jackets with tightly defined waists and full skirts.

Anderson took charge of Dior’s womenswear, menswear and couture in 2025, becoming the first designer since Dior himself to oversee all three areas. Since then, he has pushed the house toward a more relaxed style.

The show notes asked, “how light can a dress be?” The collection answered by treating traditional tailoring more like soft drapery.

Bar jackets appeared softer, with their waist flounces falling naturally rather than holding a structured shape. One jacket was combined with a barn coat.

Houndstooth, a traditional Dior pattern, appeared in sheer chiffon.

The 1952 La Cigale dress was also reworked in strapless pink pleated tulle, with its shape inspired by the insect it was named after.

The collection drew heavily on Dior’s archives while presenting familiar pieces in new forms.

The deliberately untidy styling reflected a wider trend seen during fashion month, including at Prada and other major fashion houses.

Luxury details appeared in subtle places, including Murano glass buttons and faux fur hidden under jacket lapels. At the same time, some outfits made a much bigger visual statement, with jackets and miniskirts decorated with hundreds of hand-cut petals that moved as models walked.

Bronze, silver and mint-green trousers added color to a mainly black, white and gray collection.

The saddle bag, a popular design from the John Galliano era at Dior, also returned.

A collection with a familiar feel

Guests received a pair of wenwan walnuts with their invitations. The traditional Chinese walnuts are rolled in the palm for years until they develop a smooth polish, a process that echoed the collection’s focus on worn and crumpled textures.

But the idea also highlighted one of the collection’s possible weaknesses. This was Anderson’s 10th Dior collection in just over a year, and some of its key features balloon-shaped chiffon minidresses, sheer tailoring and single dangling earrings have already become familiar.

The collection’s central question, therefore, was whether Anderson’s refined and deliberately unfinished style still offers enough surprise for Dior.

After 10 collections, the designer’s approach has become increasingly recognisable suggesting either that Dior has found a new identity or that Anderson has settled into a formula. - AP