Dior Men's Spring/Summer 2024 Collection Transformed Tradition
Celebrating his fifth year at the French Maison, Kim Jones honored all the Dior predecessors by incorporating their signature codes in a modern fashion.
Kim Jones is the master of putting on a show — which was no different for Dior Men's Spring/Summer 2024 presentation. Before the first model took their first step, the show began with all of the models rising from a trap door before standing at a standstill, like flowers in a mechanical garden.
What truly makes Jones' runway shows more spectacular though is the fact that for all the grandeur, the clothes still remain the standout aspect. Dior Men's Spring/Summer 2024 presentation marks Jones' fifth year anniversary at the French fashion house, at which he commemorated the moment by pulling references from the archives.
"Dior is an haute couture house: It is all about the clothes," Jones said per the show notes. "At the heart of Dior is silhouette, shape, technique, and fabrication of the very highest order. I like to think that in my five years of being here, I have never forgotten this. It's a culture we have inherited from womenswear past and applied to menswear present and for the first time in our collections, it is a collage of influences from different Dior predecessors and eras we wanted to pay tribute to at once."
Gianfranco Ferré's embroideries, Marc Bohan's textures, Christain Dior's sensibility — numerous influences from the past take shape though reinterpreted in a modern fashion, pushing the presentation "from new look to new wave." But perhaps who had the most noticeable influence upon Jones was Yves Saint Laurent, who was renowned for his impeccable tailoring — even more praised that it was womenswear.
The crisp silhouettes are transfigured into the men's world, as Jones centered his attention on relaxed suiting and long, draped coats. Formal merged with casual as dropped-shoulder blazers, cardigans, and loosely pleated trousers remain simple on their own, but garner a higher level of formality once crafted with signature Dior techniques such as intricate embroideries and cannage stitching. Also prevalent was the consistent use of tweed and jewels, a clever reference from the cabochons and application of tweeds utilized by Mr. Dior in the Fall/Winter 1960 collection. Ever focused on the finer details, the accessories held their own references as the heavy-soled loafers and slides were reinterpreted takes on the 1955 Lady Dior Bag — featuring a new circular logo.
It was practicality, modernity, ease, and elegance all in one, that was a beautiful lesson that tradition and transformation can work harmoniously.
