Dior is moving closer to the film world after joining forces with A24 in a new two-year creative partnership. The deal was officially revealed on Thursday, 10 September, one day after a strange teaser showing Dior creative director Jonathan Anderson walking on treadmills with stars dressed just like him began raising questions online.
The partnership will bring together film, theatre and fashion, with Dior becoming the premier partner of A24's Cherry Lane Theatre in New York. It also comes at a time when Anderson's own work has become closely tied to cinema, making the move feel like more than a simple fashion ad.
What the Teasers Were About
The first clue arrived on 9 September, when Dior posted a short video called 'In Training'. It showed Anderson and Sabrina Carpenter walking side by side on small treadmills while Carpenter copied his everyday look of a checked shirt and loose jeans. A24 was tagged in the clip, but Dior did not explain the full project at the time.
A24 meets Dior, a new creative collaboration bringing together film, fashion and theatre.
— Dior (@Dior) September 10, 2026
“This is the start of an exciting partnership built around artists and storytelling. Putting two creatively driven worlds side by side - you start to see what they pull out of each other… pic.twitter.com/Xbpnp2TZMY
That mystery was cleared up the following day when Dior and A24 announced their two-year partnership. Dior said the deal would span film, theatre, fashion and other creative work, with much of it centred on A24's Cherry Lane Theatre in New York's West Village.
The full launch film made the earlier treadmill scene much easier to understand. Sabrina Carpenter, Camille Cottin, Josh O'Connor, Drew Starkey and Sophie Wilde all play different versions of Anderson, copying his clothes, movements and working style while the real designer also appears on screen.
Beyond a Fashion Campaign
Dior will serve as the premier partner of Cherry Lane Theatre for the next two years. The programme is expected to include films, theatre shows and live events while also giving support to both established artists and new creative voices.
In Training. pic.twitter.com/CF8V2rFvNU
— Dior (@Dior) September 9, 2026
One of the first projects is Both Ends, a one-off performance by Justin Vivian Bond that takes ideas from poet and playwright Edna St. Vincent Millay. Jonathan Anderson designed costumes for the show, while one vintage Paul Poiret piece will also be used because Millay wore the designer's clothes and Poiret helped inspire Anderson's Dior Winter 2026 collection.
The deal will also support opportunities for students to learn about the creative and practical sides of film and theatre. That makes the project broader than a normal brand sponsorship, with Dior and A24 saying they want to bring artists together and help new talent find an audience.
Luca Guadagnino Helps Explain Dior's Film Push
Luca Guadagnino is not part of the newly announced Dior-A24 deal, but his link to Anderson helps explain why fans quickly connected the project with film. Anderson has worked as a costume designer on several Guadagnino projects, including Challengers, Queer and the upcoming Artificial.
The pair have worked together outside film sets too. Guadagnino and production designer Stefano Baisi created the show space for Anderson's Spring-Summer 2026 womenswear debut at Dior, working with documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis on a dramatic gallery-like environment that combined physical and digital elements.
However, one claim seen in early fan posts needs care. Artificial is not an A24 film, despite Anderson designing its costumes, and current reports say Neon is handling its US release, while Queer was distributed by A24 in the United States.
Dior's Hollywood Plans
Anderson has already made cinema a clear part of his vision for Dior. The house staged its Cruise 2027 show at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in May 2026, with the collection drawing heavily on Dior's longstanding relationship with Hollywood. Marlene Dietrich was a key reference, including a Dior jacket she wore in Alfred Hitchcock's Stage Fright.
The new A24 deal now gives that interest a more permanent home. Instead of only dressing actors for red carpets or using stars in campaigns, Dior will be involved with programming at a working New York theatre and with projects that move across several forms of art.
For fans who saw the treadmill teaser and wondered whether Dior was moving deeper into movies, the answer is now much clearer. The brand is not becoming a film studio, but its A24 partnership shows that Anderson wants fashion to sit much closer to actors, directors, theatre and storytelling than a normal luxury campaign would allow.
