For his first, hotly anticipated Christian Dior collection, Kim Joneswent back to the beginning. The British designer mined the Dior archive for inspiration to pay tribute to the man who established the fabled brand in 1946.
“The collection is really based on Mr Dior’s personal life,” Jones told the Observer at a preview in the Rue Marignan atelier. “It is the idea of looking at different parts of his life.”
Jones made his debut in Paris on Saturday afternoon as artistic director for Dior Men, the rechristened Dior Homme, completing the changing of the guard for the spring/summer 2019 season. In a tribute to Dior and to his own heritage, Jones invited Prince Nikolai of Denmark to start the show. “I’m half Danish and Mr Dior always had that thing with royalty, and so I thought it would be nice to open with a prince – quite glamorous isn’t it?”
Jones had only been at the brand for three months, following his departure from Louis Vuitton in January, and admits he didn’t have much time to dig deep. The elements he focused on in this first collection, however, will resonate with aficionados of the fashion house. Toile du jouy patterns from the wallpaper in the first Dior boutique were used on jacquards and leathers; botanical emblems referenced Dior’s love of horticulture; the famous cut used by Dior himself inspired the tailoring and the name of the new jacket, the Tailleur Oblique; and pink and grey, shades synonymous with the brand, were used throughout.
This aesthetic approach lends itself to a softer, more relaxed Dior Men than we are used to seeing. Jones’s predecessor, Kris Van Assche, who has since moved to fellow LVMH-owned brand Berluti, favoured dark palettes and sharp tailoring during his 11-year tenure. Before him, Hedi Slimane was lauded for his skinny suits – Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld was said to have lost more than 40kg to fit into one of Slimane’s creations.
The show notes said that this was about “translating a quintessentially feminine couture identity into a masculine idiom.” This intention mostly resonated with the striped tailoring that appeared to be similar to the lining of a suit, but had sheer organza overlays.
It is also a progression from the streetwear influences of which Jones was a proponent during his time at Vuitton. He was the man behind its sellout collaboration with Supreme last year. “I’ve moved away from that a bit,” he explained. “[That’s] easy modern menswear; this is a lot more elegant and sophisticated and a little bit romantic too, which is what Dior is.”
There were, however, sportswear influences; footwear featured trainer, shoe and boot hybrids, while baseball pumps and caps completed most looks. In the new Dior Men world order, this is representative of “contemporary masculinity”.
For more read the full of article at The Guardian
