Kris Van Assche, the creative head of Dior’s menswear division – Dior Homme, made his new collection stand out this season in Paris with a menacing play on a brazen red and black colour scheme which pitted classic menswear shapes against hip streetwear.
The nouveau tailoring was an exercise in visceral motifs from the get-go, with brilliant shoots of red neon lighting guiding the first group of midnight black and slate suits up the runway, tied up with string ties for a hint of unorthodox flair. Following on from the suits, thick outwear that included heavy-duty leathers, puffy body warmers and mac-esque coats to keep one drip-dry, took over the collection.
The sense of direction took even more daring twists and turns as the collection reached it’s climax after 50 or so looks. Florals ghosted their way onto coats, a red and black checkerboard pattern found its way onto sweaters and small painterly flecks was applied to skinny fit suits, in the overall jumble that would become a lucky dip AW16 collection.
It was all equally effective nevertheless, I mean – this is Dior we are talking about and the proof is always going to be in the creme brûlée pudding but perhaps the sense of direction is a little off kilter because of the current uncertain climate at the fashion house following Raf Simons departure last year. Either way, lack of clear-cut brand identity or sartorial design statement, AW16 worked in Van Assche’s favour.
by Liam Feltham
Images courtesy of Dior