December 17, 2020: For his Fall 2021 Men’s collection, Dior’s artistic director Kim Jones drew inspiration from the universe of contemporary artist Kenny Scharf, bursting beyond the boundaries of time and space with a dazzling virtual show. It was a “one-way trip to Planet Dior”.
“When we started the collection we were coming out of the first lockdown and I wanted to spread some joy, happiness and hope,” says Mr. Jones. Painting a wave of optimism, and drawing inspiration from the pop universe of Mr. Scharf, an American artist, the collection is a perfect meld of couture tradition and technological precision.
A huge fan of science-fiction and street art replete with cheeky characters and shades, Mr. Scharf infuses his work with humor. “I love the clash of colors – yellow and purple, orange and blue, red and green. When you take the happy and sad opposites and put them together, it creates the tension and excitement that I love,” he smiles.
These bright-hued mélanges appear in the dyed hair of models as well as the scenography by French director Thomas Vanz, who avows a fascination with astrophysics. His colorful ink and glitter videos created a magical galaxy as the backdrop for Kim Jones’ silhouettes.
In an homage to the Bar, jackets are belted at the waist over pants cropped above the ankle. At once reminiscent of Star Wars’ costumes, the outer space look is embellished with chrysanthemum blooms as boutonnieres, created specially by Maison Lemarié.
Dior Ateliers translated Mr. Scharf’s works into prints, fusing them with the famous Dior Oblique motif and appropriating them for embroidery executed using traditional Chinese techniques.
China, in fact, was an inspiration as well as Chinese zodiac animal characters make an appearance printed on sweaters, complemented by stunning jade jewelry by Yoon Ahn. Tamborin-style berets – a favorite of Christian Dior – were designed by Stephen Jones and embroidered in China.
Thousands of tiny pearls and stitches were embroidered using a centuries-old Chinese technique to meticulously reproduce the fantastical Kenny Scharf cartoon characters curated by Kim Jones.
