Everything
It’s been five years since Kim Jones presented his first collection as artistic director for menswear at Dior and during that time the British designer has built the kind of legacy that others would take decades to do.
Not just at Dior. In 2018, Jones became a nexus point for one of fashion’s biggest shake-ups: his move to Dior left a vacancy at Louis Vuitton that was then filled by the late Virgil Abloh. And the rest, as they say, is history…
One of the most insightful moves that Jones has done while at Dior is to integrate the numerous codes of the Maison into a singular lexicon of design. Where any other designer may have wanted to wipe out all traces of their predecessor, Jones has rather seen the power in tracing and celebrating the rich genealogy of Dior.
Never was this more evident than for his fifth anniversary collection for Spring Summer 2024, a collection that not only celebrated the work of designers who came before him (Marc Bohan, Yves Saint Laurent, Gianfranco Ferré) but did so embedded into the matrix of Jones’ own house signatures.
The result was a detail and texture rich show: the beloved cabochons of Monsieur Dior became dazzling additions to menswear staples such as polos, shirting, cardigans and blazers and then layering several of these items for effect. Bohan’s penchant for sumptuous textures were utilised in coats, bomber jackets and nubby tweed knitwear and lastly Saint Laurent’s finessed silhouettes rounded it out.
All over this, Jones retained his mastery at editing and styling along with elevated and contemporary cuts courtesy of his British tailoring heritage. Flashes of neon kept the cool grey, beige and navy colour palette fresh and the shoe of the season, a chunky loafer with a metal DIOR detail, was worked in various leathers, tweed and even leopard print.
Ahead of the show, it was going to be curious to see how Jones would – or even could – top the visual extravagance of his Fall 2023 show that took place in front of the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. But what was delivered was perhaps smarter.
Taking place outside of Paris’ École Militaire in a custom space finished in the Dior grey and guests, which included Australian actor Felix Mallard (Ginny & Georgia, Locke & Key), were greeted by models as they rose up from under the runway which consisted of polished metal grey tiles. It was the perfect balance of theatrics and sparseness of space that let the clothing be the true star of the show. A space age arrival for the future of Dior.
