Larger than Life

Dior Men’s artistic director Kim Jones teams up with the British artist Peter Doig for a collection inspired by the extravagance of the masculine ceremonial garb

- Maritess Garcia Reyes

Like a window to the past, the House of Dior’s winter 2021-2022 collection connects the now with then, the contemporary with history and heritage, through creations that combine Dior emblems with the artist Peter Doig’s imaginative symbols. “We were looking with Peter Doig at the idea of [the] ceremonial costume and a modern interpretation of it, with a strong focus on tailoring. We looked at French painters, ceremonial dresses and the formality of the couture house, and then really worked on the embellishment on fabrications and knitwear, and the idea of something grand and large,” says Kim Jones, Dior Men’s artistic director.

For this collection, the embroidery and embellishments, remarkably inspired by the Académie des Beaux-Arts, lend the pieces a masculine touch. Decorations and motifs from the House’s archives are also reinvented. “There are different themes and different areas of Peter’s paintings. We have the ‘lion’ motif, which comes from an outfit made by Pierre Cardin that Christian Dior wore to a masked ball,” the artistic director explains. The painting he is referring to, Dioroar, was made by Doig for the House. In the collection, the lion can be seen on a hand-painted hat, on a blanket and even on custom jewellery. “Then, we have the landscapes and the silhouettes of people which we explored via embroidery, knitwear, jacquards and various fabrications,” he adds.