Just now in Tokyo, Japan, Kim Jones presented his first Pre-Fall collection for Dior Men’s. Here are five takeaways from the show:
- TextAnother Man
1. The set featured an enormous sculpture
Following on from the beautiful, flower-adorned statue by American artist Kaws present at his debut show in June, Jones commissioned another artist to contribute to the set for this show too. This artist was Japanese illustrator Hajime Sorayama, best known for his erotic portrayals of female robots, who created a huge monolith that towered over the audience at 11 metres tall. According to Dior, this sculpture has been in construction since mid-September, took 20 days to paint and weighs a colossal 9,150 kilograms.
2. The collection was modelled by Jones’ all-time favourites...
From his tenure at Louis Vuitton to Dior, Jones has always had his favourite models, and some of them made an appearance at the show today: Andrew Westermann, David Trulík, and Dominik Sadoch (pictured), who circled Sorayama’s sculpture in the arena-like space.
3. ...And featured contributions from his collaborators
As well as his longtime favourite models, the show featured work from his collaborators too: jewellery from Yoon Ahn which riffed on Sorayama’s sculpture with nuts, bolts and industrial chains; master milliner Stephen Jones envisioned shiny steep caps which also nodded to the monolith; Alyx designer Matthew Williams again worked on the belts, caps and accessories. And this is part of Jones’ genius: bringing brilliant, like-minded people into his world.
4. As for the collection itself...
The collection itself represented Jones’ street-smart approach to luxury at its finest. In a palette of black, navy, Dior’s signature pearl grey and a dusty, cherry blossom pink, the clothes blended old and new, tradition and modernity, couture techniques and cutting-edge technology, Western and Japanese tailoring. It also paid homage to Jones’ absolute devotion to luxury – case in point: the metallic calfskin laser-etched to feel like silk.
5. It all ended with a laser show
Before – and during – the finale, the show space was flooded with an amazing, firework-like display of lasers which danced around the room, refracting off Sorayama sculpture. This wasn’t a tired Western cliché of Japan, this was a very fresh attempt to capture the reality of Japanese culture today; a love letter from Jones to a country which has consistently inspired him, and the house of the Dior.
