Dior Men's Fall/Winter 2023 Collection
Opening with a recitation from Robert Pattinson and Gwendoline Christie, Kim Jones' latest collection for Dior Men celebrates the legacy of Yves Saint Laurent.
The Dior Men show opens with a story recited by Robert Pattinson and Gwendoline Christie projected along the runway before an orchestra introduces models in Kim Jones' latest creations. "The cycle of a fashion house is about regeneration and rejuvenation, just like the cycle of fashion itself. There is always something from the past in the present and in the future and Dior is no different," explained Kim Jones in a press release. "In this collection we wanted to look at the regeneration of the Maison after the death of Monsieur Dior and his rejuvenation with Yves Saint Laurent, his chosen heir, drawing a parallel in literature, through images and themes of the wasteland. It is where an old world meets a new, changing, and evolving world."
The show is a celebration of the Thames and the Seine, the great rivers of London and Paris. With their connotations and their contrasts, they act as literary motifs for T.S. Eliot and inspiration for Kim Jones and the Dior Men's Fall/Winter 2023 collection. Aquatic flows reflect those of fashion, with movement, ease, and fluidity being central—a continuous dynamism also sought after in a young Yves Saint Laurent's work during his time at the helm of the French Maison.
Saint Laurent's debut collection for Spring/Summer 1958 was a continuous fusion between femininity and masculinity that Jones reinterprets with traditional tailoring and British materials with a panache. Silhouettes are softened while clothes are in constant, rewarding individuality—couture accents, tapes dropped as styling elements, sailor tops taken from the archive, polo shirts that stretch to become men's suits, draped knitwear sweaters, nylon overalls, and fluid three-quarter length trousers. Looks are accessorized with hats designed by Stephen Jones and jewelry from by Yoon Ahn and Matthew M. Williams.
This mise-en-scène of the heritage of Monsieur Dior's Maison celebrates the tenure of Yves Saint Laurent with a sculptural attitude and a British influence driven by the current creative director.
