Dior Homme A/W 2017
Kris Van Assche looked to music and moshpits for his youthful 'HarDior' collection

Mood board: Now in his tenth year at Dior Homme, Kris Van Assche made his own distinctive contribution to this season’s developing theme: a reconciliation between the atelier and the street. Ever mindful of the house’s inimitable founder, here Monsieur Dior’s lucky necklace was reinvented as a key chain. Assche’s teenage years were reflected too in the fitted cut of jackets and roomier trousers. The collection had splashes of new wave, ravers and gabber boys. ‘HarDior’ was emblazoned across the front of bucket caps and sweatshirts. It was both hard in mood and energy.
Best in show: Pinstripe cloth was used for utilitarian streetwear shapes. Suiting was youthful. As with last season, the clothes left the mark of their maker. Basting stitches on tailored jackets were multiplied and collaged. Another two-button jacket featured metal tacks, fanned across the front. There was a confidence and familiarity to the look.
Team work: New York-based artist Dan Witz’s hyper-real moshpit paintings featured prominently as a signal of the birth of HarDior style. One of the pioneers of the street art movement, Witz has been making work since the late 1970s. Like Assche, his influences come from music, especially the transgressive power of rock'n'roll. After a brief stint as a musician, Witz returned to making art fulltime, inspired by the epic scenes painted by Brueghel and Bosch. His ‘Moshpit’ series embodies the magnificent tension of being present in the moment yet totally abstracted from what is happening. His paintings were printed onto a number of looks, bursting with vigour.
Dior Homme A/W 2017. Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
London based writer Dal Chodha is editor-in-chief of Archivist Addendum — a publishing project that explores the gap between fashion editorial and academe. He writes for various international titles and journals on fashion, art and culture and is a contributing editor at Wallpaper*. Chodha has been working in academic institutions for more than a decade and is Stage 1 Leader of the BA Fashion Communication and Promotion course at Central Saint Martins. In 2020 he published his first book SHOW NOTES, an original hybrid of journalism, poetry and provocation.
-
The great American museum boom
Nine of the world’s top ten most expensive, recently announced cultural projects are in the US. What is driving this investment, and is this statistic sustainable?
-
Here’s how Heathrow is reimagining airport chaos as ambient music
Grammy-nominated Jordan Rakei turns travel noise into a meditative soundtrack by sampling everything from baggage belts to jet engines
-
Wallpaper* checks into Gansevoort Meatpacking, an art-filled hotel that mirrors the district’s glow-up
This sharp, stylish New York hotel is a fixture in its neighbourhood, where boutiques, restaurants and clubs have long since taken over spaces once occupied by slaughterhouses
-
Haute Couture Week A/W 2025: what to expect
Five moments to look out for at Haute Couture Week A/W 2025 in Paris (starting Monday 7 July), from Glenn Martens’ debut for Maison Margiela to Demna’s Balenciaga swansong. Plus, ‘new beginnings’ from JW Anderson
-
Donna Trope celebrates the power of the Polaroid in Paris
‘Polaroids used to be my rejects, and now they are my holy grail,’ says the beauty photographer, as she shows rarely seen images in a Paris exhibition
-
Summer games, from pétanque to pool floats, get a fashionable spin
From a luxurious pétanque set to pool floats and playing cards, summer games and toys from the world’s best-known fashion houses
-
‘Modern beauty’: Pieter Mulier on his new vision for Alaïa
As creative director of Alaïa, Belgian designer Pieter Mulier honours the timeless vision of the maison’s founder while rewriting the past anew. Here, speaking to Jack Moss, he tells the story behind his first year at the house
-
Palace unites with Rapha to celebrate inaugural Tour de France Femmes
Marking the first time women will compete in the historic cycling race since the late 1980s, this new collaboration sees Palace Skateboards and Rapha create uniforms for both on and off the bike – including an ‘outlandish’ pair of Crocs
-
Mariella Bettineschi’s feminist artworks survey guests at Dior A/W 2022 show
As guests gathered at Dior’s A/W 2022 womenswear show venue in Paris, sets of duplicated eyes stared down at them from the artworks of Mariella Bettineschi
-
Paris Fashion Week A/W 2022: Chanel to Miu Miu
In this extended report, Wallpaper* updates you live from Paris Fashion Week A/W 2022 shows, with rolling coverage as runway events unfold
-
Scene-stealing runway sets from A/W 2022 menswear shows
A Kubrickian space odyssey at Prada; a recreation of the Pont Alexandre III in Paris at Dior; and colourful, artist-created flags at Loewe: explore the best runway sets from the A/W 2022 menswear shows