Have you ever wondered how the 1% shops? Spread across four floors in a relatively quiet street in Paris’s 7th arrondissement is one of the haute couture set’s best-kept secrets: Villa Dior.
While the concept was launched a little less than a decade ago, it remains pretty simple: it’s a place for Dior’s very important customers (VICs) to see, try on, and order from the collections while enjoying the highest levels of hospitality the house of Dior can offer.
Twice a year, in January and July, Villa Dior opens for the haute couture collections. Three times a year, in January, May, and October, it opens for the haute joaillerie and horlogerie collections. However, the same location is also used during ready-to-wear seasons to showcase the breadth of the brand’s categories, including made-to-measure pieces from Dior Homme and exceptional pieces from Baby Dior. The concept also travels to key markets and is crafted accordingly. This coming March will see one in Suzhou, China.
I enter the villa on Tuesday afternoon, the day after Jonathan Anderson’s couture debut at Dior, from the client entrance. As I walk along a lovely garden path, I am flanked by two tiny glass houses. The one to my left is a 22-seat cafe, where I spy a couple of extremely well-dressed families, children, nannies and all, having lunch. The one to my right has been turned into a mini chocolate patisserie, and there is another cafe, with 50 seats, on the ground floor. They have all been curated by chef Yannick Alléno, who is also responsible for the Monsieur Dior restaurant inside Dior’s mega-boutique on Avenue Montaigne.
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This is the first time a journalist has been allowed inside Villa Dior during operating hours because the brand is understandably very protective of the clients’ experience. But this is also the first time it opens with Jonathan Anderson at the helm.
“Jonathan’s first haute couture show was the perfect opportunity to transform the Villa into a new realm of dreams for a few days, giving pride of place to the prodigious expertise of the ateliers. It seemed natural to us to prolong the intense emotions of the haute couture show by inviting our clients and friends of the house to enjoy other very exclusive experiences, bringing them into close proximity with Jonathan’s creations,” said Delphine Arnault, chairman and chief executive officer of Christian Dior Couture.
Anderson has also made no secret of his desire to open up the world of couture to the wider public. Additional haute couture pieces he designed to complete this latest collection are on display at Musée Rodin for the next week, alongside designs by Christian Dior and work by the ceramicist Magdalene Odundo, as part of the Grammaire des Formes (Grammar of Forms) exhibition, which is open to the public.
“In a way, the exhibition unveils the creative mindset behind the project, tracing connections and highlighting a shared commitment to formal innovation, craftsmanship, and new definitions of beauty across art forms. It is important to me that the exhibition is open to the public: in this way, the exclusivity of couture is turned on its head, and the finesse of its craft can be enjoyed up close by everyone,” explained Anderson.
The house has also announced partnerships with prestigious fashion school IFM, as well as high schools and primary schools across Paris. “Jonathan’s creative passion has sparked and infused each of the events in this programme, which also includes lectures and an activity book conceived for children and adults alike, since the exhibition aims to demystify the world of couture and inspire the next generation to ensure its future,” added Arnault.
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The first thing I see inside the building, kept safe in a glass enclosure, is look number three from the Spring 2026 Couture collection — a long orange dress in silk georgette, hand pleated and twisted to resemble the sculptures of Odundo. All 63 looks from the collection are in Villa Dior.
The place is packed. Women of all ages are traversing the ground floor, which has been devoted to the clothes, gently touching the pieces while chatting eagerly with each other and their hosts. From the moment you set foot in Villa Dior until the moment you leave, you are accompanied by a member of the client team. Security guards line the entrances, and there’s a flurry of assistants carefully but swiftly removing the pieces from their stands or putting them back on.
My host tells me that, while normally his appointment schedule allows for some flexibility, this time around, he is fully booked with no cancellations. It’s a particularly exciting time for the Dior teams; for one, they have been tasked with bringing a new creative vision to life. But also, this haute couture collection has, for the first time in the brand’s history, included accessories, which means the possibilities to offer clients a full look are endless.
The accessories take over the first floor. First, there are the bags, in new shapes as well as classic models like the Lady Dior, which come with unlimited customization options. There are also 57 pièces uniques in 18th-century fabrics sourced by Anderson. “I believe haute couture can extend beyond clothing to encompass bags as a fully realized couture expression as long as they are conceived with the same prominence, intention, and technical ambition. We explored a variety of shapes, materials, and crafts for this collection,” said Anderson.
Then there is the jewelry made of meteorites and fossils, charms inspired by each dress in the collection, and shoes made of yarn, silk cyclamen petals, and the same upcycled 18th-century fabrics as some of the bags.
The few areas of the wall that don’t carry an extraordinary piece of fashion carry paintings, also chosen by the designer. In fact, everything in the space has been chosen by him — from the color of the walls, to the furniture, the antique carpets, and even the glass enclosures.
In the two hours post-show, a team that included Anderson carried all the couture looks from the show venue to the villa and set them up just in time for the cocktail party that followed. At the party, the creative director mingled and chatted with the clients, who, as we know, appreciate nothing more than face time with the designer as a means of connecting to the brand.
“Our clients, regardless of their generation, are very attached to our codes, so they are all the more appreciative of Jonathan’s talent for elevating and modernizing them, while paying tribute to them and showcasing the savoir-faire that brought them to life. Jonathan has immense respect for our ateliers, which he knows, better than anyone, are the best in the world. He is acutely aware that haute couture can only continue to exist if it is actually created and if its savoir-faire is passed on,” commented Arnault.
Anderson’s couture takes over the ground and first floors, while the second floor is reserved for Victoire de Castellane’s haute joaillerie and horlogerie creations. Sketches of jewellery from older collections line the walls of the corridors leading to tiny rooms that contain millions of dollars in gemstones and diamonds, set in bracelets, tiaras, rings, necklaces, and watches. Castellane’s latest collection for Dior is called Belle Dior, which has 13 unique pieces along with 44 pieces that can be replicated upon request. A personal favorite was a necklace, ring, and earrings set featuring moons and stars made of yellow diamonds and black opal, inspired by the founder’s own fascination with the occult.
Inside the rooms, all curtains are drawn as part of a security protocol, while after every other fold of the maze-like floor, you’ll find private client suites, where the VICs can actually do their shopping in peace. The couture client suites are on the third floor and, as you’d expect, significantly larger. I wasn’t able to sneak a peek because, as I was warned, it was all booked.
On my way out, I’m treated to two bags of haute chocolaterie from the glasshouse patisserie. It’s an interesting time for fashion — the macroeconomic challenges are plenty, and last year’s creative reset was the industry’s big bet at dealing with them. In this vein, it’s encouraging to see newly appointed creative directors like Anderson reimagine and stretch luxury’s borders. It’s also very fun.
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