An autumn evening in Giza, at the setting of the sun behind the Great Pyramid. DIOR Men’s Artistic Director Kim Jones presented his Fall 2023 collection at the monumental Giza pyramid complex in Egypt, on Saturday, December 3rd. Celebrating 75th anniversary of the brand, Jones remembers the story about Christian Dior finding his lucky star that convinced him to start his own Haute Couture house.
MENSWEAR
My interest in ancient Egypt is about the stars and the sky. It’s that fascination with the ancient world and the parallels with what we look at today; what we inherited from them and what we are still learning from the past. It links to Christian Dior in that sense and by way of his fascination with symbols and superstitions that recur throughout his life and work, one of which is the star. In both the collection and the show there is an idea of ‘guided by the stars’ and what that can entail in many ways. It’s about how the past shapes the future or an idea of the future from the past.
– Kim Jones
Extravagance is achieved with an easeful, pragmatic elegance. The collection mixes the past and present, taking the cues from feminine tailoring and translating it to the masculine silhouettes. It uses the couture finishings and mixes them with technical details. Archival embroideries take on a notion of futuristic armory, while the leather goods reinterpret luxury into a new, organic utility.
A futuristic footwear is grounding in traditional savoir-faire united with excellence in contemporary, technical know-how.
Like a stratification of history, clothes are layered textures, outerwear and accessories swathe, with cocooning protection attained by all. In this living history, always in flux, movement, ease and fluidity are key; from the purposeful technical jacquard transparencies that reveal rigorous underpinnings in tailoring and outerwear; to the new, crin-like wool demi-kilts – originating from the bias pleated skirt of a Dior archival dress from the fifties called bonne fortune – that become at once a nod to this most ancient of men’s garments and part of a new technical language as an over-garment. Bags and shoes unite, working with the cannage and the diamond codes in a mix of contemporary techniques and textures, from high-frequency neoprene paneling and injection moulding to anodized metal finishes. At the same time, nothing negates the need for comfort and practicality: the ultimate luxuries. – from Dior.
