Everything
Kim Jones, artistic director for Dior menswear, has regularly turned to the worlds of art for inspiration in his collections. For collaborations, too. This has seen him previously work with KAWS, Sorayama and Raymond Pettibon. This year, for the Maison’s Fall Winter Menswear 2024 collection, Kim got personal: the photographic work of his uncle, former ballet dancer turned photojournalist Colin Jones.
Colin was by all measures one of the most prolific and respected photographers of the 60s and 70s, capturing not just the cultural zeitgeist – bands like The Who, Mick Jagger and Martin Luther King – but the happenings of everyday people as he saw them in his travels. But for Kim, and Dior, it was his connection to the world of dance that was brought to life on the runway. In particular, Colin’s day-in-the-life article for Time Life on fellow dancer Rudolf Nureyev – who famously partnered with Dior couture client Margot Fonteyn in the 1965 debut of Romeo and Juliet.
This pas de deux of Kim’s personal world and the world of Dior set the stage for the Maison’s first ever Dior Men’s couture. A poetic, yet still pragmatic, collection that on first take had a surprising austerity to but slowly unfolded to reveal itself in the details.
The drama of dance underpinned the collection: ballet shorts, shoes inspired by the ballet pumps worn by man when performing, all-in-one shorts that widened at the legs and turbans were all given their dues. Beaded tunics, a kimono (hand-made in Kyoto) inspired by Nureyev’s own wardrobe and scalloped necklines brought a wonderful flair to the collection.
Balancing this was dance’s functional requirements: the loose, draping fits in soft cashmere and zipped wool jumpsuits. Alongside all of this, Kim’s signature tailoring that he has been developing over the past six years at the house including the signature asymmetrical single-button jacket.
