Jonathan Anderson’s debut for Dior was one for the history books.

The hottest ticket of the Paris men’s collections drew a galaxy of stars — including Rihanna, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams, Sabrina Carpenter, Robert Pattinson and Daniel Craig — and fellow designers, from Stefano Pilato and Donatella Versace to Kris Van Assche, who previously helmed the men’s division at the French fashion house.

Such was the buzz around the show that Meta sponsored a watch party in a bar, hosted by influencer Lyas, for those that didn’t score a ticket. Some 600 guests were invited to the actual show, held in a tent in front of the Hôtel des Invalides, home to Napoleon’s tomb.

The inside of the venue was modeled after Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie museum, which houses a vast collection of Old Masters, but only two paintings were on show: still lives by 18th-century painter Jean Siméon Chardin, one depicting a vase of flowers, the other a punnet of wild strawberries.

The latter was on loan from the Louvre museum, lending an extra dose of cultural gravitas to the proceedings. The room was temperature-controlled to protect the priceless art works, a welcome departure from the usual sweltering show venues, ensuring that despite the star wattage, the room kept its collective cool.

Anderson himself described the show as a recoding. He teased it on social media and outdoor ads with Andy Warhol’s Polaroids of Lee Radziwill and Jean-Michel Basquiat. The images telegraphed more than an idea of style: riffing on Dior’s obsession with the 18th century, the Irish designer also conceived the collection as a commentary on class.

The lineup was built on the tension between three pillars: almost aggressively normcore staples; replica historical garments, and conceptual pieces inspired by three haute couture dresses from the early Dior archives: the Caprice, the Cigale and the Delft.

Anderson opened the show with a Bar jacket, the foundation of Dior’s New Look. His version came in forest green Donegal tweed with a black faille collar, and its hourglass construction was based on chest canvases instead of padding, grounding it in men’s tailoring and giving it a surprisingly flat aspect when viewed from the side.

He paired it with off-white cargo shorts with voluminous pleats that gobbled up 16 yards of fabric, a direct reference to Dior’s 1948 Delft dress. It was styled with athletic socks, fisherman sandals and a stiff collar and tie reminiscent of a neck brace. So far, so Anderson.

Over the next few looks, he elaborated on the idea of mixing ancient and modern, high and low. Think formal evening shirts worn with faded jeans and sneakers, tailcoats over bare chests, and tuxedo jackets cropped to flash a sliver of midriff.

“I like that it’s a bit posh,” Anderson said in a preview. “There’s this thing that’s happening now where it’s [like] we don’t have to be part of a society, but we can kind of look like it. We want to dress like it. Where there’s a kind of fascination with this idea of old and new, and the idea of what those things mean today.”

He compared it to the scene from Jean-Luc Godard’s Nouvelle Vague classic “Bande à part,” where the heroes run through the Louvre museum, but it was tempting to read into it elements of upper crust cosplay from a more recent film: “Saltburn.”

You felt echoes of its working class hero, Ollie, in items like a plain green zip-up sweatshirt with a Dior logo plopped on the front, or the Polo Ralph Lauren-style pastel cable knit sweaters. There were reminders of aristocrat Felix’s casual arrogance, too, in the way that elaborately embroidered waistcoasts were tossed over classic men’s shirts and baggy pants.

Anderson had the Dior couture workshop make exact replicas of a collection of 18th-century men’s garments, including a couple of gold-trimmed frock coats. “For me, it’s nearly like, what would someone like a kid in Saint-Germain-des-Prés be wearing, but in another world? Or how do you mix the things up?” he explained.

The sea of commercial pieces made for a sometimes repetitive display, but gave a clear indication of how Anderson plans to rev up sales at Dior, which has been lagging the rest of the key fashion and leather goods division at luxury group LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

On the accessories front, he also struck the right balance between novelty and core styles like the Dior Tote, which he updated with reproductions of classic book covers ranging from Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” to Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood.” It was a clever idea that has the potential to run and run, with seasonal variations that are bound to become collectibles.

Cementing his art world credentials, Anderson tapped Paris-based U.S. artist Sheila Hicks to customize the Lady Dior handbag with layers of tassels, hinting at another rich seam of future collaborations via the Dior Lady Art project, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.

Olivier Gabet, director of the decorative arts department at the Louvre and curator of its current exhibition, “Louvre Couture: Art and Fashion — Statement Pieces,” noted that the show set reflected the brand’s deep roots in the art world, which go back to founder Christian Dior’s early career as a gallerist.

Anderson’s choice of Chardin, a prestigious but fairly obscure 18th-century painter, stood in contrast to his predecessor Kim Jones’ splashy men’s debut for Dior seven years ago, with its giant floral statue by Kaws. “I think he’s really going to put the focus back on the essence of luxury, and this is a perfect demonstration of that,” Gabet opined.

By his own admission, Anderson is still learning about Dior. “It’s a little like doing a Ph.D. You’re going in and trying to absorb it and then reconfigure it,” he said. “He was very good at creating a world.”

Building his own universe at Dior is a process that will unfold over five collections between now and the cruise show next spring, he suggested — enough time for the public to acclimate to the shock of the new. The fashion crowd, it would seem, needed no time to adjust, rewarding the designer with a standing ovation.

“I loved it, loved it, loved it,” said Rihanna, a Dior brand ambassador. “I want to wear everything.”