Dior men’s 2019 fall

To be honest I had to read a review not so much for opinion but for explanation of what I saw. Firstly, the conveyor belt was in a way genius but in a way startling in that one might take it as a reference to clothes churned out in vast numbers as in mass production just because they are clothes… maybe it’s a bit of METROPLOIS.

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Tailoring is key here but what really shook me is that the show in my opinion was so over styled that you really couldn’t see what was right in from of you from the “sleeves that encased the hems of the pants to the “name tags” that read Dior like a worker in a department store!

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The over the elbow S&M gloves threw me as did the “gilets” and the zipped kangaroo pockets slapped on the front of other pieces. The satins looked less than riche considering their formidable prices but I have to say the scarf/sash thing is wonderful even though I have this nightmare of how it will look hanging on a rail in a store. Yes I loved the animal prints even the furs… but I just can’t shake that I wish I could see this collection without all the bells and whistles or possibly it is the bells and whistles that make it stand out in the crows of sameness

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I was oohing and fawning over that first collection Jones did for Dior and now I am at odds as to what I think with this collection as a whole. The animal print “slickers and coats stand out in my mind as does the, I think, guipure lace bomber and the jacquard tone on tone animal print shirtings. As for the so called collaboration it is who cares for me and I can’t see what it added to the collection!

DIOR HOMME 2019

Kim Jones on his freshman outing has reminded us that the name Dior demands clothing that equate to the brand. Yes, I have purposely left out the clunkers for the wannabe thugs and the hip hop set as well as those who need to be the latest and greatest fashion victim of any brand.

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So as a sort of palette cleanser to the fate of pre fall for women I present to you the slick chic razor sharp tailoring of Dior Homme. I am not inferring that Kris van Assche was a bad designer or didn’t do the house justice but at the end he sort of fell under the spell of mamamiamaria meatball and out went the low key minimal fashion that he had instilled in connection with the brand.

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 Oh to be 30 years younger and rich enough to be able to own and wear these exquisite pieces. These are fashion for men of a certain sensibility not hedgies and not stock brokers but slicked out hot men who need to show they are cut from a different cloth than bankers and politicians; clothes filled with nuance and subtleties and bold silhouettes.

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 There are the clothes targeted for a discerning fashionphile and not the clothes of fashion victims until you find the pieces I omitted from my presentation. Jones is at his best with the almst Savil Row tailored pieces what just push that envelope far enough to be called designed and not just hum drum clothes or clothes that double for Halloween costumes or retreads found from a local thrift shop.

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 If I was forced to make  some sort of comparison I might go so far as to say there is a nod to McQueen’s menswear.

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Dior Homme spring 2019

I can’t say that Kim Jones rescued Dior since Kris Van Assche surely didn’t do a bad job with Dior Homme but what I can categorically say is that Kim Jones breathed new life into the brand.

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 There is this sort of chicness, slickness to the collection that shows off the brand far better than Van Assche or Mamamiameatball in women’s. Yes, the logos are there but they are far more discreet and far more tastefully integrated than slapping the name on tee shirts or on just about anything and anywhere that can hold a signature. Jones is certainly fluent in logo!

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The pale color palette is so refreshingly spring and without question even just the tailored pieces can justify calling the collection modern yet classic and not bending to the so called trends we have seen for the past month or year for that matter. Yes, there are the fashion pieces but the jackets and suitings are divinely appealing as well as the trench and simple “motoring” coats.  If there was a misstep it was the last sequence of black ground pieces which seemed at odds with the rest of the collection as well as looking far more H&M than the rest. 

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I’m in love with the single button double breasted and with the seersucker, even the transparency, the shorts, the casting and the trainers can be over looked because the clothes look beautiful not just in style but beautifully executed. I was able to actually imagine real gown ups wearing these clothes albeit of the more fashionable variety. Hell it’s a lot better than seeing street fashion or the urban population/wannabe rappers as your pinpointed clients; nary a sweat shirt in sight, a pair of track pants or oversized jacket, pant or shirt. Instead fabrications that looked as thin as parchment and prints including a toile de jouy. OH!! And fabulous Stephen Jones take on a baseball cap!

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Kim Jones is more than capable of delivering menswear for all ages... it was how he started at Vuitton doing slick handsome sexy menswear... again albeit for the very rich  but they were beautiful. His skill set is especially is shown off here as mentioned with his seamless integration of house signatures and logos. It is so head and shoulders above his counterpart in women’s as well as his colleague at Valentino. This is fashion. 

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This is a fashion lesson. This was a rare fashion moment when a new designer of a heritage brand can justifiably take a bow at the end of the show.

Dior men's fall 2018

So apparently someone got the idea that Dior men might actually be worn by men and not only barely pubescent boys. The change in casting is refreshing if not a bit short lived oberall. It might have been interesting to see some of the more mature models dressed in more causal pieces rather than in just the classically buttoned up styles

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The rigorous tailoring is strictly for the reed like body or at least a body that has been very well maintained. Tailoring is without question laser sharp even with some great coats. Then suddenly Kris Van Assche  gets lost in these silly juvenile printed tee shirts and knits sportswear pieces …. Sort of reminds me of when I was about 8 years old… 

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Someone might have also considered some slick shoes to go with these suits and coats rather than those tired overexposed white trainers and those unlaced clunky heavy oxfords. 

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In the end I found the collection a lot more palatable than in the past and per chance the customer base might even expand with the latest offerings for real gown ups.

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The green milk collar is a nice toucn!!