What does beauty mean at Jonathan Anderson’s Dior? An exclusive backstage look

“‘The way you made the men look so good, I want the same for the girls’—that was actually the first thing he said to me,” Peter Philips told Vogue backstage, citing Jonathan Anderson’s clear directions ahead of his historic first women’s collection for Dior spring 2026. The new creative director wanted models to “look like the best version of themselves without looking made-up.”

And so Philips, the creative and image director of Christian Dior Makeup, prepped models for a “calm” makeup look that wouldn’t distract from Anderson’s details: bows of all shapes and sizes, reinvented New Look jackets, and cravats. “I did a new type of nude for JW,” he said with a smile as he stopped to say hello to Juergen Teller, a familiar backstage face at Dior.

Outside, ushers at the Jardin des Tuileries dressed in relaxed gray Henley-style sweaters and drapey slacks showed guests to their seats. Jenna Ortega sat front row in a cutoff mini, while Jonathan Bailey smiled in a chill denim zip-up. When the show got underway, models walked under a glowing inverted pyramid suspended from the ceiling, wearing looks featuring exaggerated proportions and topped with milliner Stephen Jones’s hats, designed to “implode into themselves,” according to Anderson’s show notes. There were long knit capes, sheer lace gowns with floating fairy-wing-like structures, and dresses made completely of sequined petals; Philips’s “blossoming” beauty reflected this decisive vibe shift.

“Before, it was more of an armor, more like protection. This one is more like a blossoming spring. It’s a new season; it’s a new chapter,” says Philips, who worked with Dior’s previous creative director, Maria Grazia Chiuri, for years. Anderson’s point of view for beauty is, “bizarrely, a bit more feminine,” he adds.

While the pair got a sense of each other’s style at the men’s show in June, Anderson (always one for a dip into the archives) studied Philips’s history of makeup looks before their conversations even began last month. Anderson presented Philips with a file of his previous work for houses like Alexander McQueen and Chanel. “He was like, ‘I want to get to know you,’ and we started playing,” explains Philips.

As weeks passed and the collection came together, “it was clear that we didn’t need a makeup statement,” Philips says. From the collection’s giant-heeled rosette slippers to the enormous bows and delicately embroidered collars, the message was clear to him: “Let’s focus on the clothes and give it a pure statement.” On Sunday they finalised the look with hairstylist Guido Palau, who did natural hairstyles, with some cuts and bobs created just before the runway today. Manicurist Ama Quashie’s cleanly manicured nails from the men’s show inspired Anderson. “Mr. Jonathan, he was very clear—he was like, ‘Oh, just buffed,’” says Philips. Today models have a slightly glossier effect on their nails, which Quashie achieved using Dior nail polish in Muguet. (Alternatively, a coat of Dior Nail Glow will do.)

For Philips’s “new nude” aesthetic, he created a “soft and romantic” makeup look with strong cheeks and a dewy golden eyelid. Starting with skin care, he used Dior Les Patchs Yeux and Capture Totale Le Sérum before applying Dior Forever Skin Glow foundation. Then Philips’s newly designed Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Blush Stick in shades 006 Berry and 012 Rosewood were diffused onto cheeks with a brush. “It melts into the foundation and gives this beautiful glow,” he says. Curled but bare lashes and a dusting of the center shade of Diorshow 5 Couleurs in 559 Poncho opened the eyes, and then the darkest shade was pushed into the roots of the lashes “so it kind of gives a bit of volume without using mascara,” Philips explains. Finally, lips were “toned down” and “neutralized” with a swipe of Dior Addict Lip Glow Butter in 103 Toffee.

According to Maya AlZaben’s astrological investigation into Anderson’s Dior debut for Vogue, today’s show takes place in Libra season, shortly after a Virgo solar eclipse. “While Libra is a sign known for beauty, Virgo is meticulous and artisanal,” AlZaben wrote. All of that was present on the runway.

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This article was first published on Vogue.com.