Kim Jones, creative director of Dior Men since March 2018, has endowed quintessential Dior monochromatic designs that Christian himself would be proud of, with a freshness of youth and colour that harks back to Jones’s previous collaborations with streetwear designers. It can be said that at the Spring/Summer 2020 Dior Men’s collection, recently presented during Paris Fashion Week, it was the pleated silk crepe panels that stole the show. The hand-pleated, hand-painted pleats of dynamic royal blue and rich orange complemented the sheer white garments onto which they were carefully sewn.
Due to the fragility of the pleats, these items were unable to be sold. It is no wonder, as they appear as aqueous and as delicate as water. More artwork than clothing item, the exquisite silk crepe is pleated by hand and hand-painted and sprayed by a kimono craftsman from Kyoto (Japan). Then, using different directions of dégradé, the pleats take form with a sense of spontaneity and kinesthesis that is reminiscent of an oil slick, but with the refinement and elegance that is customary of the maison. The organic appearance of the pleats combined with the refinement of the cleanly cut garments they adorned effortlessly fused the feminine and the masculine, thus creating a sense of the new-romantic mingled with expert tailoring and a hint of streetwear couture.
