The first Dior men’s show to be held in London, artistic director of menswear Kim Jones draws inspiration from an epochal figure, the author Jack Kerouac – a man who shifted writing as seismically as Christian Dior changed fashion. Kerouac’s second novel, On The Road, is widely agreed to be the defining work of the Beat Generation. Published in 1957, the year of Christian Dior’s passing, it marked a new era for his métier, just as Dior’s debut ten years earlier had, in turn, for his.
From counterculture to couture, this collection merges the atelier and the road, fusing the finesse of a Parisian couture Maison with the modern, casual ease of mid-American sportswear. All roads lead back to Dior: mid-century collections by Yves Saint Laurent and Marc Bohan inspire checked tweeds, bias-cut into soft collegiate coats – a supple lightness added to Dior’s signature tailoring. Fair Isle knits are intricately embroidered with sequins, and cloqués are woven with the “CD Diamond” logo. Original foulards silks from the 1960s are rewoven, and the graphics of a series of Dior carré scarves** adorn shirts and jackets. Illustrations from the first-edition book jackets of Kerouac works are hand-painted and printed onto silk and leather, translating literature through the language of couture. The collection is underpinned with vintage washed denim, the most American of fabrics, whose origin is nevertheless traced back to France, where it got its original name – serge de Nîmes.
