Anya Taylor-Joy Blurs Art and Menswear at Dior Couture

It’s been a whirlwind few days for Jonathan Anderson. Fresh off the unvieling of his sophomore Dior Men collection last week, the designer returned to the spotlight this afternoon for his debut couture offering for the house. Naturally, the front row was star-studded, and in a fitting show of allegiance to Anderson’s vision, several guests arrived dressed straight from his most recent Dior Men runway. Chief among them was Anya Taylor-Joy, who made the case for artful, statement outerwear.

Taylor-Joy chose one of the standout looks of the men’s collection: a Paul Poiret-inspired trench embellished with ombré fur bell sleeves. The base of Taylor-Joy’s coat centered on a double-breasted silhouette with sharp lapels. A printed silk scarf, nodding to Poiret’s louche 1920s motifs, attached to the collar and cloaked the backside of the piece.

Poiret, regarded by fashion historians as the designer who “freed women from the corset,” served as a guiding force behind Anderson’s Dior Men show last week. He juxtaposed the French couturier’s fluid drapes with the feminine structure heralded by Christian Dior in the 1950s.

“When you look at Poiret, what I find is there was this idea of dressing up with friends, you have these moments where they're just wrapping these like blankets and duvets and things around them,” Anderson said. “And I like that idea of the character taking the cashmere coat and taking the scarf and then building something.”

Taylor-Joy, naturally, made her own alterations to the men’s look. She added a feminine touch by pairing the layered coat with ivory sling backs, rather than the printed boots and jeans combination shown on the runway.

In doing so, Taylor-Joy proved that life doesn’t just imitate art; it wears it.