Photo: Courtesy of Dior
Dior Men‘s spring 2022 collection is inspired by the bucolic desert landscapes in the state of Texas, US. Designed and launched in collaboration with native Houstonian rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer Travis Scott, the ready-to-wear collection is an ode to French designer Christian Dior’s odyssey to America in 1947, with one of his first destinations being Texas, whose canyons and dusty desert landscapes made a lasting impression on him. Named Cactus Jack Dior, after Scott’s Cactus Jack Records label, British designer and Dior’s men’s artistic director Kim Jones lent a touch of formality to the oeuvre, with tailored suits to contrast with its sportswear elements.
Photo: Courtesy of Dior
The line’s color palette borrows from the landscapes of Houston’s arid countrysides, with muted colors, neutrals, and dusty pinks punctuated with bright cacti-like green, combining American pop influences with those of European old master paintings. The set recreated Christian Dior’s beloved childhood rose garden, fused with cacti plants and desert hues to reflect Travis’ upbringing in Houston, Texas. With a sun-bleached palette of mauves, pistachios, pale blues, canyon browns and dusky pinks, accentuated with zesty jolts of Absinthe green, the quintessentially Dior ‘Toile de Jouy” print was revamped as a “Toile de Cactus” chiné, depicting desert scenes instead of European ones. In fact, the motifs of the original toile are translated to soutache embroideries on the suiting.
Scott reimagined the Dior logotype via a series of hand-drawn graphics utilized as prints and embroidery. Western-style touches included python prints, a dusty suede jacket, a saddle bag with a sturdy stirrup handle, and new sneakers borrowing from skateboarding culture that has taken the internet by storm, with sloped plateau sole harking back to the 1990s. Condo has created a sequence of hand-painted shirts, unique works. These will be auctioned after the Dior show, with the proceeds used to support future generations of creative talent through scholarships. The Astroworld rapper and Jones further collaborated with American visual artist George Condo on a series of hand-painted shirts.
Photo: Courtesy of Dior
Flaring below a high waist and narrow armhole, fluid trousers and slim overcoats sketch an evolution of Dior’s 1956 ‘arrow’ line. Dior’s signature tailleur oblique, a double-breasted suit fastened with one button on the body, is merged with sportswear elements, such as track pants with couture detailing. Other motifs, including the topography of Houston, the Cactus Jack character, and imagery drawn from Dior’s archives, adorn bags and leather souvenir jackets.
Photo: Courtesy of Dior
Dior’s monogram oblique, featured on the accessories, is reworked to spell out Jack. A diamond monogram, originating in the 1960s archives, becomes a new graphic logo canvas. A monk-strapped sandal combining multiple luxurious textures and materials is reminiscent of “wanderlust,” while British milliner Stephen Jones’ hats are hybrids, fusing a French ‘bob’ hat with an American beanie. For the first time, Jones collaborated with Dior’s jewelry artistic director Victoire de Castellane on a high jewelry piece: a cactus necklace, blooming with precious gems.
Photo: Courtesy of Dior
The Dior Homme Menswear Spring Summer 2022 show as part of Paris Fashion Week was held on June 25 in the heart of the Les Invalides Museum in Paris, with artists and stars in attendance such as American model Bella Hadid and Chinese actor Lin Yi. For his biggest runway outing yet, Scott went for one of the more subdued looks from the collection, opting for a black double-breasted suit nipped at the waist to form a defined silhouette, with pair of chunky laid-back sneakers straight off the runway.
Travis Scott. Photo by Francois Durand/Getty Images
Just last week, Scott starred in Italian brand Bottega Veneta’s newly released retro-inspired second volume of its digital multimedia journal, Issued. Jones is also no stranger to collaborating with musicians, having designed with cutting-edge splendor the concert outfits for members of the South Korean boyband BTS for their worldwide tour in 2019.
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