For its most recent menswear collection, aristocratic with a utilitarian flair, Dior moved its audience to a beach garden between Normandy and Sussex on Friday.
Ex-soccer player David Beckham, Hollywood pair Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, supermodel Naomi Campbell, and rival fashion designers Olivier Rousteing of Balmain and Matthew Williams from Givenchy sat on real grass with the rest of the guests, surrounded by wildflowers.
For the show during Men’s Fashion Week, Kim Jones, artistic director of Dior menswear, set up the runway in a temporary location in the heart of Paris. With a blue-sky painted panorama and a life-size replica of Christian Dior’s pink mansion in Normandy, the runway was changed into a lawn of purple, orange, and pink flowers.
It was surrounded by a replica of a country house that the Bloomsbury Group, a group of British authors, thinkers, and painters active in the early 20th century and frequently recognised as an influence by Jones, used to frequent.
The first model opened the show wearing a monochromatic ensemble that combined an extremely sporty rucksack with a beige suit, showcasing Jones’ penchant for fusing streetwear with immaculate tailoring.
Others followed in light blue deconstructed gardening attire, double-breasted jackets worn with pleated Bermuda shorts or wide-leg pants, as well as other outfits. On knit sweaters and technical materials, Duncan Grant’s paintings from the Bloomsbury School were replicated.
Some models wore cannage hats, which feature an openwork grid design popularised by Christian Dior and can also be seen on padded long coats in blue and khaki green, more for fashion than sun protection.
