There is power in creativity and it is thriving by the day, even more than 2019, even more in the new decade. Held in a massive tent on Place de la Concorde, the Dior Men Fall 2020 runway proved yet again that Kim Jones’ vision for Dior is carrying the label to the new heights of progressiveness. The Fall/Winter 2020 collection of the label took evident cues from Judy Blame, an influential British stylist, artist and tastemaker who passed away in 2018.
In the androgynous designs, Jones continued to infuse the (women’s) couture house codes into his menswear — to stylish effect. Each model wore opera gloves and make-up, and many dripped in embellishments such as pendants, pearl clips, beads, fabric flowers and jewels. Some designs — such as round-shouldered wool coats in taupe and charcoal, with soft geometric panelling — were even borrowed directly from the Dior women’s catwalk.
There’s a creative generation now in power at the very top of fashion that sees none of those old boundaries. Jones is a leader in that cohort. He’s in charge of menswear at Dior, but he delved into the house archive of ’50s haute couture — studying the silhouettes and embroideries — and came up with a superbly elegant collection.
“We really focused on the tailoring and the know-how of Dior, it’s a completely different style than what we presented in Miami,” Jones explained to Hypebeast France. “It’s not punk, it’s not rock, it’s just London style,” the designer continued, smiling. “For the jewellery, we really relied on Judy’s archives; we didn’t want to copy her work, that’s not how you pay tribute to someone properly. By looking at all the documents that we were given, [we saw that] the safety pin was omnipresent.”
