Fashion history will be made in Trinity College Dublin in December when Dior will present its pre-fall collection of more than 60 silhouettes for autumn/winter 2027 in the university. “Showing at Trinity College Dublin is a dream come true,” said creative director of Dior, Irishman Jonathan Anderson. “I began my career in Dublin so returning here feels deeply personal.”
“To present this collection in such an extraordinary setting at an institution with such an important cultural history is a real honour,” he said. The event takes place on Friday, December 4th.
The collection will be unveiled in the university’s Old Library, the 18th century building housing a world-class collection and currently undergoing a “once in a century” redevelopment project to future-proof the contents. Anderson’s team were there on Wednesday on a recce for the Dior event later this year. “We have never done anything like this before,” said Anne-Marie Diffley, visitor services manager of the Old Library. “It is really exciting.”
Last year, the designer made history when he became the first fashion designer to be made an honorary patron of the Philosophical Society and was presented with the gold medal. Given that the award is presented to those who have excelled in their given fields, it was an acknowledgment of Anderson’s contribution to the world of fashion as one of the most influential designers of his generation.
Perin Winders, treasurer of the University Philosophical Society in 2025, presenting the honorary patronage to Jonathan Anderson. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw
This will be the first time that Anderson has presented a collection in Ireland. Dublin is also the birthplace of Carmel Snow, the editor-in-chief of American Harper’s Bazaar (the Anna Wintour of her day) who coined the term “New Look” having seen Christian Dior’s debut collection in February 1947 in Paris.
It is not the first time that Dior has shown in Dublin, however. In 1950, when Brown Thomas opened its Dior boutique, a replica of the Dior Salon in Paris, Christian Dior came over, bringing his own models with him. One of them, a Swedish woman called Brigitta would marry John McGuire, heir to Brown Thomas. In a further connection, it was in Brown Thomas where Anderson began his career working in Prada men’s wear after first training as an actor in New York, and he has spoken about how it was in Dublin where he first came out as gay “and fell in love with fashion”.
From Magherafelt, Co Derry, Anderson (42) studied in Blackrock College, Dublin, and is the eldest son of former Irish rugby captain Willie Anderson and his wife Heather, a teacher. His career so far has been spectacular – following his achievement at turning luxury brand Loewe in Spain into a superstar success (and creating the Loewe Craft Prize), he became creative director of Dior, where he manages womenswear, men’s wear and the haute couture collections. He also continues to design collections for Uniqlo and maintains his own brand having recently opened a shop in London. He also designed the dress for Taylor Swift at the most talked about wedding of the year. “He plays by his own rules fearlessly,” Anna Wintour once said of him.
But to show in Trinity College is quite a coup.