The NGV acquired its first works by French couture house Christian Dior in 1972 and now holds over eighty works representing the designs of all eight of the house’s creative directors: Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons, Maria Grazia Chiuri and, now, current creative director Jonathan Anderson.
The earliest Dior work in the NGV Collection is from Christian Dior’s first collection, spring–summer 1947. The most recent acquisition, Look 8, is from Anderson’s first ready-towear collection, spring–summer 2026 collection, and has been acquired with the generous support of Krystyna Campbell- Pretty AM and Family.
Anderson was appointed Dior’s creative director in June 2025. The Irish-born graduate of the London College of Fashion began his career working as a visual merchandiser for Prada before founding his own eponymous label and later embarking on an influential period as Loewe’s creative director from 2013 to 2025.
Taking on the creative leadership of Dior’s womenswear, menswear and haute couture lines, Anderson presented his debut womenswear collection in the Tuileries Garden in Paris in October 2025. The highly anticipated collection was shown within a minimalistic set designed by film director Luca Guadagnino and production designer Stefano Baisi in collaboration with documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis. A specially commissioned short film unfolded across an inverted LED pyramid in the centre of the runway.
The collection married specific references to works by previous creative directors and established house design codes with the relaxed contemporary silhouettes favoured by Anderson himself. The resulting outfits skillfully blended a reverence for Dior’s past with all its romantic and grand gestures while signalling a distinctly rebellious and ultimately wearable new aesthetic for the house.
Look 8 draws direct inspiration from a dramatic black silk taffeta and Chantilly lace dress and stole designed by the twenty- three-year-old Yves Saint Laurent for Dior’s autumn–winter 1959–60 collection. This work also joins the NGV Collection, gifted by Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program.
Famously and provocatively titled Labia by the young couturier, the 1959 ensemble was presented as look 100 (of 170) of the collection and remains one of the era’s most talked-about and well-documented haute couture pieces. It is believed that Yves Saint Laurent named this look after the Palazzo Labia in Venice, the site of the legendary 1951 “Ball of the Century”, although it is likely he also relished the scandalous double entendre. Famed American photographer Richard Avedon snapped model China Machado wearing the design in Paris in August of the same year. A striking announcement of a new era, Look 8 is Anderson’s interpretation of the original Labia design, combining a vibrant red pleated silk top, slouchy soft cream wool trousers and the same dramatic standing black lace collar and trailing detail of the 1959 work. This contemporary version is topped off with an inverted tricone in lilac silk designed by British milliner Stephen Jones.
Hats have long been considered an integral part of the overall look at Dior. Christian Dior began his fashion career selling and illustrating millinery for other designers, and in 1948, established his own millinery department, which was to be run by his confidante and muse Madame Bricard. The art of hat making frequently brings together contemporary innovation and the best of traditional artisanal skills. Outside specialists and key people from within the Dior atelier are called upon to help bring each piece to life, from concept to catwalk. For the last twenty years, Jones has played the crucial role of interpreting and extending the vision of Dior’s creative directors. Working with John Galliano, Raf Simons, Maria Grazia Chiuri and now Anderson, Jones continues to expertly articulate a place for hats in contemporary fashion.
The full Look 8 as presented on the spring–summer 2026 runway has been acquired for the NGV Collection, including the whimsical shoes with their signature rose-toe details and curved heels, directly from Dior. Created in collaboration with the director of shoe design, Nina Christen, the shoes introduce inventive hybrid forms, combining Christen’s experimental design language with heritage references to flowers and the eighteenth-century.
Paired with the 1959 Labia dress, Look 8 makes a powerful statement that underlines the rich and ongoing connections between the archives of heritage fashion houses and the creative directors of the present day.
Katie Somerville is NGV Senior Curator, Fashion & Textiles.
Look 8, spring–summer 2026, is the first work by Jonathon Anderson for Christian Dior to enter the NGV Collection. The NGV warmly thanks Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family for supporting this work and for gifting Labia, dress and stole, autumn–winter 1959–60, to the NGV Collection.