“Originally, I didn’t want to be a fashion designer.”
Jonathan Anderson’s candid admission immediately set the tone for an open conversation about creativity, risk and reinvention at USC Annenberg. Speaking with W Magazine Editor-in-Chief Sara Moonves, the Dior creative director traced an unlikely path from studying theater and working in a department store to leading one of the most influential fashion houses in the world.
Just days after Paris Fashion Week, Moonves and Anderson joined the USC community to launch the university’s Distinguished Speaker Series on Fashion, a new initiative created by alumna Lauren Santo Domingo. The series aims to bring leading voices in fashion to campus to explore the intersection of design, media, business and culture. The USC Roski School of Art and Design and the USC School of Dramatic Arts partnered with USC Annenberg to host the inaugural event.
Santo Domingo, co-founder and chief brand officer of Moda Operandi, envisioned the series as a way to connect students directly with the designers, editors and innovators shaping fashion today. Introducing the program, she described its focus on the visual language that defines the industry: “If there’s one thing we can all agree on in fashion, it’s that image is the most integral part. Image will spark a conversation and it can define a cultural moment.”
The discussion in the Wallis Annenberg Hall Forum on March 12 reflected fashion’s wide reach across disciplines, something USC Annenberg Dean Willow Bay highlighted in her opening remarks. Fashion, she noted, intersects with “art and design, media and messages, personal identity and public performance, and of course business and innovation.”
Through Moonves and Anderson’s conversation, students gained a rare behind-the-scenes look into the creative and cultural forces that drive the global fashion industry. With each question, Anderson’s perspective came into focus as he reflected on image, authorship and the nature of creative work.
Image as fashion’s language
Throughout the talk, Anderson returned to a central idea: In fashion, the image is everything. Whether on a runway, in a campaign or on a billboard, it is the image that ultimately communicates the work and invites people into it.
“For me, it’s the image that is the key part of telling the story, to selling the dream that you have in your head. So you have to use people as paintbrushes. How do I sell a product through an image that is on a bus shelter or on a billboard or in a magazine and make people go, ‘I want to be part of that.’”
“You’re trying to get people to come to your side. So the image is very, very important. The talent or the visual is the part where you’re getting people to go, ‘Actually, I want to be that person. I want to be in that image.’”
Anderson is always working on multiple projects simultaneously, creating an iterative cycle of design, image refinement and re-expression.
“The creative process never ends. And I think that's what I am addicted to: that process of bringing people into a room to find newness within something that we all wear.”
Entering the world of Dior
Anderson said taking on creative direction at Dior meant stepping into a legacy far larger than himself, one that reshaped his understanding of fashion, particularly couture.
“When I started working at Dior, I met these amazing people in the atelier. And when you go into a couture atelier, it's this amazing phenomenon where it is completely silent. There is no sewing machine. Everything is done by hand. So you believe that you're working in history.”
“I think that's the difference with Dior: you are entering into a brand that has had some of the greatest designers in history. So you have the weight of that.”
At the same time, he framed Dior not only as a house defined by its past, but as one driven by imagination.
“I think Dior is like a dream machine. It is about fantasy…. It is about selling new ideas in fashion…. Sometimes we want everything to be a reality, but fashion has to be about ideas that get out of the reality and show you something else.”
Letting go of ownership
In an industry driven by rapid cycles and constant imitation, Anderson shared an open approach to influence and authorship. Seeing his ideas reflected in the work of other brands in mainstream culture isn’t something he spends too much time thinking about — but ultimately, he sees it as a compliment.
“There’s nothing better when Zara copies it, because then if they’re copying, it means something…. For me, that’s like the best flattery. It means that maybe it can go outside of the room.”
His advice to fellow creatives: Shift your focus from the impact of what you’ve shared to the next great idea.
“Once I put an idea out, it’s out there…. If you are scared about people copying you, then you have nothing else to give…. I don’t believe in ownership in that way.”
Advice to students: Trust the process and learn through experience
When speaking directly to students, Anderson emphasized process over immediacy and the importance of committing fully to the work.
“For me, the biggest education is being around all these people who want to do a similar thing, which then creates competition. And it makes you go, ‘What am I good at?’ ‘What am I not good at?’ … You have to learn through experiencing.”
Other important aspects of the creative process, according to Anderson: Getting to know your strengths and weaknesses, and trusting your creative intuition.
“You have to be your biggest critic. I think that’s one of the most important things you have to know, your strength and weakness.”
“Never compromise… Sometimes the first idea is the best idea. I always feel like the more that I work on something, the worse it becomes. Like, if I work on a dress too long, it’s always the dress that either doesn't move very well or doesn't feel believable. So, trust your gut.”
