Dior Men’s Fall/Winter 2022 Paris Fashion Week
Dior goes romantic with embellished men’s looks at Paris Fashion Week.
Kim Jones recreated a famous Paris bridge for his picture-postcard men’s show celebrating the 75th anniversary of Dior.
In a cavernous tent on Place de la Concorde, Dior created a replica of the Pont Alexandre III, complete with Beaux-Arts-style lamps, cherubs and a golden-winged horse. He also set it against a digital backdrop of a gently changing winter sky to showcase the Fall/Winter collection of its men’s artistic director, Kim Jones.
“It’s a dawn in Paris,” Jones said during a preview. “We loved the idea of them walking on the street, and we thought, what’s the most glamorous bit of Paris?”
The collection featured 49 looks, which were historically referential and contemporary. It looked back to some of the house’s most famous looks while still playing into current styles. For instance, several looks featured either tailored blazers or coats with wide shoulders pads nipped in at the waist, which were a reference to the “New Look,” originated in Dior’s Spring/Summer 1947 collection for women.
Looking back at this important event in Dior’s cultural history, the look notoriously featured the now-signature Dior “Bar” jacket, which dramatically cinched the waist, and a voluminous skirt that fell just below mid-calf.
After several years of wartime, the New Look marked a return to glamour in the fashion world and shot Monsieur Dior and his eponymous house to international fame.
Jones even succumbed to the lure of the Bar jacket, after initially deeming its hourglass shape too feminine for reappropriation.
By pinching the fabric of jackets at the hips and using contrasting raw seams, he gave his suits just a hint of curve.
These garments show our current love for oversized clothing and layering. The shoes were particularly referential to our modern-day tastes, with models stomping down the runway in either rubber or boiled wool Birkenstock-Esque clogs or chic sneakers.
In simply words, Dior’s Men’s Fall/Winter 2022 collection was a celebration of the Paris of yesterday and today, as well as the house’s significant place within its history. Moreover, Kim Jones also ensured that the founder’s legacy lives on by putting a contemporary spin on some of Monsieur Dior’s most beloved looks.
