Changing of the guard
Kim Jones confirmed as the new artistic director of Dior Homme, two months after he left his post at Louis Vuitton.
BRITISH designer Kim Jones said Monday that he was taking the reins at Dior Homme two months after quitting Louis Vuitton.
The 38-year-old wunderkind – who insists that he wants to retire by the time he is 45 – brought a buzz and a galaxy of famous stars to the Louis Vuitton runway in his seven years at the label.
“I am deeply honoured to join the house of Dior, a symbol of the ultimate elegance,” he said in a statement.
”I am committed to create a modern and innovative male silhouette built upon the unique legacy of the house.”
He will replace Kris Van Assche, who said he was leaving Dior Homme after 11 years at the head of the French menswear label.
Jones made headlines with a series of eye-catching hook-ups with hip New York streetwear brand Supreme and the iconoclastic British artists Jake and Dinos Chapman during his time at Louis Vuitton.
The fashion label had poached him from British heritage house Dunhill in 2011, which he had dusted down and given a new lease of life.
At Louis Vuitton he brought his passion for wildlife and exotic travel to his ultra luxurious collections, mixing a lingering nostalgia for British colonial chic with a streetwise edge.
The creator, who had a globetrotting childhood that took him to Africa and the Amazon, said in November that he planned to retire in five years, or at least by the time he was 45.
Van Assche’s departure comes only weeks after the arrival of new Christian Dior Couture chairman Pietro Beccari, who had worked with Jones at Louis Vuitton.
Dior said in a statement that the 41-year-old Belgian, who added a punkish street style influence to Dior’s fine tailoring, would be staying on with the luxury giant LVMH, which owns the label.
Women’s Wear Daily, the fashion industry’s “bible”, had reported that Jones was in talks with Versace in September.
It said the Briton was one of the “small clutch of marquee designers who can straddle the luxury and streetwear worlds, which is why Versace might have come knocking”. – AFP