In the golden age of cinema, a gown was never just a gown—it was architecture for the body, a promise of transformation. This week at the newly opened David Geffen Galleries of LACMA, Jonathan Anderson staged his first cruise show for Dior, and in doing so, he reminded us that the most intimate illusions begin under the surface. The collection, a 75-look reverie of flowing dresses, fringed Bar jackets, and sculptural menswear, was framed as a meditation on “on-screen, off-screen” life. But for those of us who study the history of support and sensuality, the real story was in the subtext: the corsetry, the draping, the hidden architecture that makes fantasy possible.
Anderson’s fascination with Old Hollywood is not merely decorative. He resurrected a historic Bar jacket originally created for Marlene Dietrich, whose famous ultimatum—“No Dior, no Dietrich”—cemented the house’s bond with cinema. That jacket, stripped of its side padding and cinched at the waist, echoes the structural innovations of 1950s lingerie: the boning, the gussets, the invisible engineering that allowed a star to move like a dream. Anderson also revisited Dior’s 1950s textiles in reworked denim, embroidered with silver chains by a Japanese supplier—a technique that recalls the delicate metalwork of antique garter belts and bustier clasps.
Philip Treacy’s feathered headpieces, spelling out “Dior” and “Buzz,” nodded to the plumage of burlesque and the theatricality of the boudoir. Meanwhile, the show’s opening looks—fluttering poppy dresses in primrose, blush, and red-orange—were layered with petal-like details that evoked the fragile, erotic layers of a silk slip or a lace camisole. Even the men’s tailoring, relaxed and fluid, suggested a softening of the armor we wear, a nod to the unmentionables that shape our silhouette.
Anderson is not in a rush. “Money will come,” he said, smiling in the California sun. But for the Lingerie Museum, what lingers is this: the knowledge that every great illusion—on screen or off—begins with what we choose to wear beneath. Dior’s Hollywood project is just beginning, and we will be watching, as always, for the seams.
Originally reported by WWD