Anderson's odd debut at Dior
Why the stakes are high for Jonathan Anderson, Cucinelli’s short-seller war and another Arnault is knighted
In this week’s Dark Luxury news round-up
The stakes are high for Jonathan Anderson’s after his Dior womenswear debut
Brunello Cucinelli’s stock swings after Russia short seller allegations
Antoine Arnault knighted — three months after his sister
Louis Vuitton wins a $584 million judgement against a mall in Atlanta
Why The Guardian’s $400 jumper is good, actually
Reaction to Jonathan Anderson’s Dior womenswear collection
Uniformly skinny models, “downright testicular” gowns, and the usual vague ChatGPT-esque show notes – with a dash of Adam Curtis horror. That sums up two of the most important views of Jonathan Anderson’s much anticipated womenswear debut for Dior. Lauren Sherman argued in Puck that the collection is bold, but uneven. Her takeaway is that while Anderson clearly has freedom to experiment and talent, it’s still an open question whether he can revive the €7 billion brand, where sales are estimated to fall 10 per cent this year, according to one analyst. (Puck)
Amy Odell liked some of the shrunken bar jackets, mini skirts and quirky ponchos but thought much of the rest of the collection was awkward. And then there were the “downright testicular” gowns. What Anderson got right, she says, was expectation management by admitting to the press beforehand that his first shows won’t be loved. Wise. (Back Row)
Personally, I was very tickled by the use of archive-focused documentary maker Adam Curtis, normally known for his extremely cynical political films, who was transplanted from his usual hole at the BBC to create the show intro video.
I think he even used the same font as his 2016 doc HyperNormalisation (poster text: “THEY KNOW WE KNOW THEY LIE”) for the Dior show (“Do You Dare Enter THE HOUSE OF Dior”). For a quite colourful collection it felt like an unsettling and odd creative choice. Maybe that’s a good reflection of the kind of pressure that Jonthan “10 collections a year” Anderson is under?
You can learn a lot about luxury fashion companies from their Glassdoor ratings, as regular readers will remember from our reporting on Louis Vuitton’s page. 1 Granary’s write-up of the “worst fashion companies to work at”, which has quickly rocketed to the top of their most-read list, has some interesting things to say about Anderson’s namesake brand, JW Anderson. (1 Granary)
Paid subscribers can find out what we learned when we read 5,000 reviews of what it’s like to work at LVMH:
What to make of the Brunello Cucinelli short report?
Brunello Cucinelli’s stock plunged 17 per cent last week (although it’s since recovered about half of those losses) after short-seller Morpheus Research accused it of secretly running Moscow boutiques in defiance of EU sanctions. Cucinelli has rejected the allegations that it misled investors about its Russian business.
Luxury industry short seller Intern Pierre bought shares in Cucinelli after the news, and argues the report is “weak” and that the market has overreacted. (Intern Pierre)
Meanwhile, Brunello Cucinelli reported third quarter sales growth of 12 per cent to €335.5 million, with growth across all regions despite tariffs and China’s slowdown. (Wall Street Journal)
Few designers have as much bizarre guff written about them as Brunello Cucinelli, writes my colleague Alfred Tong:
Arise, Antoine Arnault
Antoine Arnault has received the Légion d’Honneur award three months after his sister Delphine, as recognition for his Olympics dealmaking. Vogue Business’s press release-y report omits the wider context of the Arnault succession fight, in which Antoine’s profile, alongside sister Delphine’s, is carefully maintained as their father Bernard Arnault decides the future leadership of his empire. (Vogue Business)
La Lettre wasn’t so shy, reporting that at the event Antoine “presented himself as the unifier of a divided family”. (La Lettre)
Talking of knighthoods and swords, the US Eisenhower Library chief resigned after refusing to hand over a historic sword for Trump to give to King Charles III as a gift for his state visit to the UK. Surely he’s got enough of those? (CBS News)
Where will Armani end up?
Armani has begun sounding out buyers for a minority stake after Giorgio Armani’s death according to a Reuters exclusive, with L’Oréal among those approached. Rothschild is expected to advise on the potential deal. The late designer’s will requires his heirs to sell 15 per cent of the firm within 18 months, with LVMH, L’Oréal and Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica given priority. The price of what those buyers will pay is unknown too, thanks to its private status. Analysts value the group at a range somewhere between €5-12 billion. (Reuters)
The best reporting we’ve read on the history of Armani and its rise to popularity in the 1970s and 80s is, of course, by Dana Thomas. When he died, we immediately thought of her vivid account in her book Deluxe, and thankfully she posted that extract on her substack for paid subscribers to read a few weeks ago. (Dana Thomas)
Cyberattacks continue to hit the luxury industry
Jaguar Land Rover has secured a £1.5 billion UK government loan guarantee to restart production after a crippling cyberattack left it and its suppliers paralysed. The state stepped in because JLR makes nearly a third of UK-built cars and supports 150,000 jobs – it is estimated to be worth 0.6 per cent of the entire country’s GDP – but the bailout has triggered warnings of “moral hazard” since the company had no cyber insurance and taxpayers will be exposed if it defaults. (Financial Times)
Harrods warned customers their personal data was stolen in a second cyberattack to hit the brand this year in a statement released on 27 September, and Renault was hit today, too. (Sky News)
Shein lands Paris thanks to an icon of luxury shopping
Iconic Paris department store BHV in the Marais district is inviting Chinese fast fashion behemoth Shein to host its first physical space along with five regional franchise locations. The announcement is not going down well in France according to Challenges, which says owner Frédéric Merlin is “playing with fire”. (Challenges)
Fakes, fakes and more fakes
Independent counterfeit workshops are proliferating along China’s Pearl River, producing mid-range fakes sold directly to Western consumers via closed online communities and intermediaries. Harder to trace than traditional networks, they’ve thrived despite raids on platforms like Pandabuy, forcing authorities in Europe and China to escalate seizures, campaigns and draft laws targeting both sellers and buyers. (Glitz.Paris)
Louis Vuitton has won a record $584 million judgment against a mall in Atlanta, Georgia, which it accused of knowingly enabling vendors to sell vast quantities of counterfeit bags and accessories, including 18 truckloads seized in one raid. The award, among the largest ever in a US counterfeiting case, is unlikely to be collected by the brand because Westgate Discount Mall is unlikely to have anywhere near $584 million in assets. Still, it sends a clear warning that landlords profiting from fakes can face financially ruinous liability. (The Fashion Law)
Luxury means corruption for young social media users in Asia
Younger people across Asia are using social media to highlight politicians’ luxury handbags and watches and share them as evidence of alleged corruption. Campaigns that have gone viral have already toppled figures in South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines. What once might have been seen as aspirational glamour by older generations reads as tone-deaf excess to younger social media users, with memes acting as so-called “counter-journalism” which can wreck reputations. The most recent example is in the Philippines, where former senate president Chiz Escudero was ousted from his leadership role on 8 September 2025 amid revelations that one of his campaign donors won billions in government contracts. Social media users expressed their outrage by highlighting his wife Heart Evangelista’s flaunting of luxury goods. (Jing Daily)
Lamborghinis, Bentleys and luxury boats bought with money meant for hospital patients are the latest symbol of South Africa’s corruption crisis. A probe found syndicates and government officials looted 2 billion rand ($116 million) from Tembisa Hospital, funnelling public health funds into trophy assets and inflated contracts. At least 15 current and former officials are implicated and civil cases are planned to recover assets. (Bloomberg News)
The Guardian’s $400 jumper is good, actually
The reaction from the Telegraph to the Guardian’s US division’s selling of an “ethically made” $380 jumper is very funny and revealing to me for several reasons. Funny because it annoys a certain type of British hack who works at the Telegraph and likes to needle The Guardian, who by mocking the jumper inadvertently reveal their suspicion of high-end fashion — this stuff is important. Hi Ed and Sarah! Hope you’re well. (I am a former Telegraph reporter and editor).
It also shows how accepted the price of a Shein/Temu/Primark jumper has become in the UK (Is £280 a lot for a jumper? It may in fact be the going rate for a jumper hand-made in the US that doesn’t fall apart in a week, which is also priced at a rate which doesn’t exploit people in its supply chain). It is also quite revealing of the extreme and growing gap in wealth between people working in New York and London. All in all, well done the Guardian and Lingua Franca. (Telegraph)
Why high-end fashion and luxury should be taken more seriously by Brits:
Over a barrel
A key trade item between the UK and US which illustrates the economic insanity of Trump’s tariffs are barrels. Scotch relies on used bourbon casks from Kentucky, while tariffs on whisky are costing UK distillers £20 million a month. Putting tariffs on importing scotch is therefore harming the US’s $300 million annual trade. Washington is reportedly considering easing the 10 per cent levy. (Bloomberg News)
Flexjet says it will buy 300 of Otto Aerospace’s yet-to-fly “Phantom 3500” windowless jets, worth nearly $6 billion on paper. The deal would make Otto’s teardrop-shaped aircraft its first major fleet order, with test flights only planned for 2027 and deliveries by 2030. The jet promises 60 per cent lower fuel burn and panoramic “digital windows” powered by exterior cameras, pitched at tech-savvy Gen Z travelers. In business aviation, announcements of massive future orders are common marketing tactics so we’ll believe this when we see them fly over our house on the way to London City Airport. (Wall Street Journal)
I spoke to the excellent newsletter BRiMM about some of my favourite low-impact luxuries, from electric bikes to airbricks. Leave your favourite in the comments. (BRiMM)
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