In the late 1970s, the American sculptor Lynda Benglis began her ‘Zanzidae: Peacock’ series, drawing inspiration from the colourful plumage of the birds she witnessed while staying on the Sarabhai family estate in Ahmedabad, a city in the western state of Gujarat, India. Recalling ceremonial fans, the works were constructed from wire mesh, enamel, glass and plastic, and were rich in embellishment – a vivid melange of appliqué flowers, feathers and colourful beads, evoking those created by local craftspeople. ‘The decorative sense, and the pleasure we receive from it, is very basic in the human situation – some birds have it, animals have it,’ she would say of the series in 2016.
Jonathan Anderson looks to Lynda Benglis at Dior Couture
Yesterday, in a black-lacquered wood pagoda constructed in the gardens of Paris’ Rodin Museum, versions of these fan-like pieces appeared in Jonathan Anderson’s sophomore haute couture collection for Dior, spread open across the chest of a crumpled silk dress, or jutting from the waistline, like a surreal crinoline bustle. Elsewhere in the collection, other works by Benglis were conjured: her ‘Pleated’ series, created through the 1980s and 1990s, in which fluid, undulating pleats were spray-cast in hard metal, was reimagined as a duo of molten plissé gowns, while ‘Sparkle Knots’ – which saw shimmering paper stretched over chicken wire – became netted, sculptural skirts. Metallic plissé hats, balanced jauntily on models’ heads, also recalled Benglis’ free-flowing, abstract forms.
But beyond specific works, Anderson said he was inspired by Benglis’ process, and the way she manipulates two-dimensional objects – paper, fabric – into three-dimensional forms through ‘knotting, pleating or moulding’ (something he likened to the act of haute couture dressmaking). A use of plissé ran throughout the collection: the nipped-waist contours of Christian Dior’s 1947 bar jacket were reimagined in finely pleated fabric, while scrunched-up, crumpled dresses – tied up on the back with enormous bows – reflected Benglis’ intuitive, tactile approach. Handbags, meanwhile, were crafted from chintz fabric – first created in 13th-century India – in a nod to Benglis’ time in the country, while cactus handbags and motifs recalling desert flora were inspired by the artist’s Santa Fe compound.
It is not the first time that Anderson has brought the artist into his creative process. In 2023, he staged his S/S 2024 menswear collection for Loewe amid a series of Benglis’ dripping bronze fountains, while his womenswear collection that same season featured jewellery created in collaboration with the artist. The latter won a Wallpaper* Design Award in 2024, praised for its ‘seductive fizz’. ‘There is something about Lynda Benglis’ experiments of the 1970s – the liberation, friction and violence – that I’m drawn to. I think there has to be a tension,’ said Anderson at the time.
The collection was concluded – as is tradition in haute couture – with a bridal gown. This season, it was an off-the-shoulder column dress in white organza, adorned with delicate fern appliqué and pooling into a lace train, prompting speculation as to whether it recalled that which Anderson designed for the wedding of Taylor Swift this past weekend (a statement from the house on Saturday confirmed that the designer had created both her and Travis Kelce’s looks for the day). ‘It was a big honour,’ said Anderson backstage. ‘But no, I can’t tell you anything about it. It will all come out in due course. It was a joy to work with her, and we became very good friends. It is an emotional thing, doing someone’s wedding.’
