The Dior show has always been one of the highlights of Paris Fashion Week Men's. But ever since Kim Jones took over the creative reins of the house—starting with his debut spring/summer 2019 show in June 2018—it has grown, hand-in-hand with Virgil Abloh's offering at Louis Vuitton, as the must-see collection, not only in Paris, but during the entire European menswear season.
For autumn/winter 2020, Jones built a mammoth rectangular box right on Place de la Concorde where the Jardin des Tuileries meets Champs-Élysées under the watchful eye of the 3,300-year-old Egyptian obelisk. No big deal. It's only the largest square in Paris, the meeting place for the French Revolution, and where the likes of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette have been publicly executed.
Creating history again, the square bore witness to a new flamboyance in menswear as Jones sent out a breathtakingly beautiful collection—one that artfully blended the maison's tailoring craft with flou and drapery—dedicated to late British fashion stylist, accessories designer, couture lover, and punk iconoclast Judy Blame.
DIOR MEN: SERVING UP BLAME
Designer: Kim Jones
10-word show review: Couture for men with pleated coats, silks and opera gloves.
Favourite look: It's like asking a parent to choose their favourite child (it's always the youngest, by the way) but we can't get over the mélange of tailoring and flou as exemplified in look 43 that saw a snow-white top coat with its elongated lapel draped and pinned to the body, worn over the new 'Toule de Judy' print (made in collaboration with the Judy Blame foundation) applied to a long silk shirt that stretched down to the shins like a flowing dress, paired with robust black tailored trousers and contrast leather strap boots, but finished with baby blue leather opera gloves. Masculine yet feminine. Strong yet soft. Handsome yet beautiful.
Favourite accessory: By now we all love a Dior Saddle Bag—and this season saw the introduction of the Saddle Bag Soft which came in a larger and, you guessed it, softer fabrication—but I'm pining for the double-bag crossbody cut in luxe croc seen in look 24. Not a fan of croc? Try the tan calfskin version in look 37.
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Day 3 of Paris Fashion Week Men’s AW20: Givenchy, Homme Plissé Issey Miyake, Amiri, Louis Vuitton and Dries Van Noten
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