Kim Jones, Artistic Director Dior Mens, constantly draws us into the minds and manners of artists and writers, with his major shows and capsule collaborations.

Dior cactus jack collab with travis scott’s foundation.

Dior Released Cactus Jack

Dior released the postponed Cactus Jack Dior capsule with Travis Scott last month. The event was important as a symbol of just how far Dior has evolved to not only collaborate with a damaged music rebel, but to stand beside him as Scott navigates choppy legal waters.

HighSnobiety reports that Ben Affleck was spotted this weekend wearing the limited edition, hand-numbered Cactus Jack shoes that retail for a whopping $1,450. . . . from the rager out west, aka Travis Scott.

Ben Affleck is not known for living dangerously in the world of fashion. It seems like a statement of support to AOC.

Kim Jones Dior Mens Early Fall 2022: Jack Kerouac and the Beats

At his early-fall 2022 show in London last December 2021, Kim Jones paid homage to Jack Kerouac and the Beat generation.

On the runway was an 80-meter-long facsimile of ‘On the Road’, originally typed in a continuous stream-of-consciousness scroll by Kerouac. “When you’re a late teen, you get interested,” said Jones. “It’s a rite-of-passage book.”

‘On the Road’ was published in 1957, the year Christian Dior died. Yves Saint Laurent arrived with his ‘Beat collection,’ the “first haute couture show to dare to signal the rise of rebellious youth culture” wrote Vogue.

The house of Dior was properly horrified, wrote the New York Times in 2017, about the Chicago crocodile-embossed leather jacket from the Yves Saint Laurent for Christian Dior fall/winter 1960 haute couture collection.

Citing the infamous jacket as the first of 10 career-defining designs by Saint Laurent, the Times noted that the house of Dior refused to contest Saint Laurent’s call to compulsory army service later that year. And so the ‘Beats’ and subversive youth culture were formally banished from the Christian Dior brand for decades.

Kim Jones, however, saw all these diverse synchronicities melding together [excepting Travis Scott’s November 2021 Astroworld disaster] as he prepared last January’s late fall-winter 2022 Dior Men’s collection.

Honoring a critically-important 75th anniversary, Jones had only one creative on his mind: Christian Dior.

AOC dove into this story, because the images photographed by Rafael Pavarotti [IG] have haunted me in a good way for awhile — which is why they weren’t posted. I hadn’t watched the actual runway show until just now, and this is one collection and runway show that should be viewed in video.

Vogue said it felt as if Kim Jones had collaborated directly with the ghost of Christian Dior himself. There is so much beauty here, I could hardly bear watching the film. The clothes are just glorious — and feel very modern. Women with hips will be jealous, because there’s no doubt that women will be snatching these outfits right and left.

For starters, Jones erected a life-size copy of Pont Alexandre III in a tent on Place de la Concorde, just a stone’s throw from the real one.

Wallpaper Magazine was blown away as well with the aesthetics of the show and shared a history lesson for readers:

The bridge, which was built in celebration of the 1900 Exposition Universelle (or Paris Exposition), and is a Seine-crossing stalwart of the city’s skyline, connects the Grand Palais on the Left Bank and the Petit Palais on the Right Bank. Named after Tsar Alexander III, it was designed by the architects Joseph Cassien-Bernard and Gaston Cousin in the Art Nouveau style, and features four 17m-high pylons. Gilt bronze sculptures of winged horses flank each pylon, representing Arts, Sciences, Commerce and Industry. The centre of the arched bridge also features hammered copper nymphs, which were created to memorialise the historic Franco-Russian Alliance. These elements were recreated in gilded glamour on the Dior runway.

Kim Jones and Kailand Morris

AOC also sees some very sophisticated guys wanting to take a walk into new luxury in these clothes. Stevie Wonder’s son Kailand Morris regards Kim Jones as a key mentor. Morris has been a Dior intern currently.

The landscape in menswear is so exciting that there’s no interest on our part in critics commenting on what guys will wear and what they won’t. Observing and learning is a far more valuable use of time.

Left: Milliner stephen jones, celebrating 25 years at dior, and kim jones at end of winter 2022-23 dior men show in paris. right: dior intern and big kim jones fan Kailand Morris wearing dior mens.Brett Lloyd for Dior.

“I really love the colors of this campaign, a perfect reflection of the spirit of Paris and the love of fashion. It’s a masculine and luxurious collection, like an echo to Christian Dior.” Jones said about the winter 2022/3 Dior Men’s campaign images.

The images by Rafael Pavarotti feature models Alex Khristenko, Indiana Van’t Slot, Jie Zheng, Suma Nicolau and Viktor Krohm in a mix of tailoring and sportswear. Ronnie Cooke-Newhouse acts as art director, with Ellie Grace Cumming and Melanie Ward on styling. / Hair by Guido Palau; makeup by Peter Phillips