The Dior Fall 2022 Men’s Show
“BUT YOU CAN GO ON THINKING AND IMAGINING FOREVER FURTHER AND STOP AT NO DECISIONS TO PICK UP A BAG FOR THE THINKINGS. TURN YOUR THINKING INTO YOUR WORK, YOUR THOUGHTS A BOOK, IN SIEGES.” – JACK KEROUAC, ON THE ROAD*, 1957
A CELEBRATION OF CEASELESS IMAGINATION – OF THE REINVENTION OF CRAFT, OF NEW PERSPECTIVES.
FOR THE FALL 2022 DIOR MEN’S COLLECTION, 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.
THE COLLECTION INTRODUCES A MARRIAGE OF THE DIOR HERITAGE AND COUTURE TECHNIQUE WITH THE TECHNOLOGY OF THE FUTURE, INSPIRED BY THE FORWARD-THINKING ETHOS THAT CHARACTERIZED MID-CENTURY AMERICA: TECHNICAL SILKS AND RECYCLED NYLONS COMBINE WITH EMBROIDERIES AND A GENTLE PALETTE OF PASTELS, PUNCTUATED WITH DIOR GRAY, DRAWN FROM THE HOUSE’S ARCHIVES. A SENSE OF VOYAGE IS EVOKED THROUGH ACCESSORIES, CLIMBING CORDONS STRUNG ACROSS THE SILHOUETTE OF THE SADDLE BAG, A CAREWORN VARIATION OF THE DIOR OBLIQUE IN KHAKI AND INDIGO, AND CLASSIC BOOK-CARRIERS ENGINEERED AS IPHONE CASES. UNDERFOOT, CLASSIC DERBIES, ROPE WALKING SANDALS, AND A NEW DIOR HIKING BOOT IS INTRODUCED, THEIR COUTURE HERITAGE REFLECTED THROUGH INLAYS OF SEQUIN-EMBROIDERED CHECKS AND EXOTIC LEATHERS THAT REMAIN ENGINEERED FOR REAL LIFE.
THE FIRST DIOR MEN’S SHOW TO BE HELD IN LONDON, THE DIOR FALL 2022 RUNWAY IS PRELUDED BY A RECREATION OF THE LIBRARY OF RARE FIRST EDITIONS AND DOCUMENTS HELD IN JONES’ OWN LONDON HOME, CURATED BY SAMMY JAY, THE LITERARY SPECIALIST AT RARE BOOK DEALERS PETER HARRINGTON. THE SHOW UNFURLS AS A STORY ITSELF: THE DÉCOR REINVENTS THE LEGENDARY MANUSCRIPT OF ON THE ROAD, A CONTINUOUS 120-FOOT SCROLL. IT IS A FITTING BACKDROP TO A COLLECTION DEDICATED TO KEROUAC’S LIFE AND LITERATURE – AND TO THE LEGACY OF INNOVATION SHARED BY BOTH HIMSELF AND THE HOUSE OF DIOR.
