Trend report: What to steal from Dior men winter 2020
Kim Jones’ magic formula of collabs, couture techniques and club culture continues to hit the high notes for me. A few weeks after his Dior fall 2020 show, he presented his Dior winter 2020 at the Place de la Concorde in Paris. Where fall was casual, sporty and colour-saturated, winter is coolly majestic.
The key component for me was the dedication to the late London creative legend Judy Blame, a friend and inspiration to Jones. Blame was a highly influential stylist and jewellery designer, part of London’s hyper-creative 80s scene who also collaborated with Jones on his Louis Vuitton collections. Blame’s signature aesthetic was a bricolage approach to styling and design, crafting jolie-laide pieces from unexpectedly mundane objects (champagne corks! Safety pins!), or throwing on a jacket inside out. It was a precursor to today’s eco-conscious approach, although back in the 80s came from lack of resources rather than an eco-warrior stance.
I digress. This collection collaborated with the Judy Blame Trust to access the archives and take inspiration from his craft. So tailored outfits were accessorised with trouser jewellery designed by in-house director of Dior Men’s accessories Yoon Ahn; long, fluid shirts were layered under toile de jouy-style hand knits, and single earrings adorned earlobes. These are all looks I’d adopt in a heartbeat.
As always, my standouts were the outerwear pieces; a fantastic camel coat lined in baby blue (a favourite Dior colour combo), numerous silk moiré macs, plus a satin MA1-style bomber that zipped up the back for a ‘cutaway’ option (above and below). Dior menswear is a huge hit with women and this is the piece I expect to see on Jones’ coterie of female fashion groupies. I want one badly.
Jones has made it his mission to inject a couture sensibility into his RTW menswear. While fall used a little-known Japanese marbling textile technique, winter took to the Dior vaults to unearth a 1969 Marc Bohan dress, whose sequin embroidery fed into the design of a spellbinding opera coat. Someone get this on Tilda Swinton’s back, immediately! If you’re into this sort of couture porn, then check out Dior’s textile consultant Edward Crutchley on Instagram, giving the lowdown – it’s a treat to watch.
The clothes were fantastic but it’s the overall package that makes this so special. The vibrant light show, graphic set design, Honey Dijon-scored soundtrack (Fleetwood Mac’s Big Love throughout) and speedy choreography gave this its energy and drama. My favourite finishing touch? Tiny metal press studs glued to the inner corners of the eyes by Peter Philips’ make-up team to suggest the humble treasures that were the tools of the trade of Jones’s muse. Genius.
WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGES: Dior men winter 2020 by Acielle – Style Du Monde/Vogue Runway
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