A New Terrain

Creative Direction: Dané Stojanovic & Marne Schwartz
Photography: Paul Morel
Fashion Direction: Anna Castan
Grooming: Jean Luc Amarin
Model: Alessio Pozzi / Sight Management
Words: Benjamen Judd

“A New TERRAIN” IS FEATURED IN THE SEVENTH EDITION OF ICON PRINT MAGAZINE. ORDER YOUR COPY HERE.

Armour, uniform, and a performance even – fashion is as much the art of putting on as it is the wearing of clothing. It can mark time – what we wear to work, to dinner, to play. And it can mark occasions – weddings, birthdays, bar mitzvahs, funerals.

Kim Jones understands the power that clothing has to carve out space, both personal and public. In his Fall/Winter 2021 menswear collection for Dior, this power was explored through the integration of ceremonial elements in menswear – how we dress for specific moments, and why – and by weaving in couture details with tailoring’s structured lines and architectural silhouettes. While couture for men was something designers had flirted with in the past, the blending of it by Jones with traditional masculine detail blurred the lines in a way that made it applicable to today’s man.

References to those arenas that have historically had the most impact on menswear run thick and heavy throughout the collection. From military-style stars on shirt collars, panels on shirt sleeves and tilted berets, to the ceremonial coats worn by French artists when they are inducted into Paris’ Académie des Beaux-Arts, Jones seamlessly fuses the hard edges of one with softer shapes of the other.

Fusion between two seemingly opposite, or at least slightly disparate, has become one of Jones’ signature touches. If you’re familiar with Jones’ career, this has been historically done with elements of street style and key collaborators. For FW21, Jones tapped the work of Peter Doig, incorporating key motifs from the Scottish artist’s body of work. Painterly elements make their way onto fabrics, making colourways more fluid and Doig’s lion motif present alongside a dog in honour of Christian Dior’s own dog Bobby.

Jewellery, scarves, opera gloves and sashes become casual embellishments for everyday style. Under the hand of anyone else, the collection might have become foppish but instead Jones has sewn the best of both masculine and flamboyance.

In other words, menswear can project both glamour and strength.