Everything
When Kim Jones thinks of the desert, he apparently thinks of the stars. Which makes more sense once if you’ve ever had the luck of being in the desert at night, away from the city lights – there, you can perhaps see more stars you’ve ever witnessed in your entire life.
This dual fascination became the bedrock for what will go down as possibly a rare mystical experience for those in attendance – the Dior Fall 2023 Menswear collection that Jones held in the Egypt capital city of Cairo. Seventy-five looks, a nod to the 75 years since the founding of the Maison, with the towering majesty of the Pyramids of Giza lit up in the background: as wins go in the race for ever more impressive travelling shows, it will be hard to top something as special as this.
But to the clothes… Earlier this year, Jones spoke about his then-current obsessions with science fiction. Specifically Star Wars and Frank Hubert’s epic world-building Dune series. In hindsight, we should have realised then that something was coming that would reference these iconic works.
As the models strode forward, kicking up ancient sand, it became clear that Jones’ mind was still out of this world and travelling the galaxy. Armoured breastplates, tactical boots, and space-inspired helmets were paired with the soft, billowing tailoring that Jones has become known for but even this was tweaked into something out of this world.
Half kilts, capes, chiffon scarves that floated behind each model (honestly, if you’ve not seen Denis Villeneuve’s epic interpretation of Dune starring Timothèe Chalamet and Zendaya with its high fashion moments, please do so and revel in the cross-coding Jones has achieved) and gauze jackets delved into that space between reality and fantasy.
But this is just what’s on the surface. As ever, each piece unveils a deeper meaning and connection to the house founder. This collection wasn’t just about Jones’ dreams of space exploration, but a nod to Monsieur Dior’s life. Where womenswear explored his interest of astrology, Jones (ever the naturist) turned this into NASA-assisted astronomical prints for technical jackets. It’s no coincidence either that, dig deep enough into the archive, that in Dior’s early days there was a dress called “Cairo”. And depending on your sources, the Pyramids (and the nearby Sphinx) are also astronomically aligned with the constellations Orion and Leo respectively.
