Dior Men A/W 2019 Paris Fashion Week Men's
Kim Jones presents a spectacular archives-inspired sophomore collection for the Parisian house

Mood board: Kim Jones is getting into the stride of applying the majesty of couture to men’s ready-to-wear. Until now he has advocated street-savvy savoir-faire yet his nascent work at Dior focuses much on its founder’s heritage. For A/W 2019 he drew on his time as a gallerist. The collection explored a sense of translation – between art and fashion, the space between masculine and feminine. The present and the past. Couture sangfroid for the street. Nylons were like silks. Animalier drapery and architectural tailoring came in a soft palette and deluxe textile. Animal prints were inspired by the Panthère motif, introduced by Dior in his first collection in 1947. It was joined by tiger and leopard print patterns on knitwear and intarsia furs. Jones is a chronicler of traditional values that reveal themselves in modern ways. The elegance of Dior’s sari-inspired ‘Soirée de Lahore’ dress from 1955 was here in the elegant evening tailoring. Swathes of fabric, buttoned into the inside of tuxedos, were wrapped around the torso to fall across the shoulder.
Team work: The season introduces a collaboration with American artist Raymond Pettibon, whose artwork for Black Flag and Sonic Youth helped define the punk aesthetic. Existing works and new whimsical paintings were used as prints and hand-knit embroideries in archetypal Dior colours of light blue, mauve greys, deep blue and black. The show was staged inside a purpose built black box, inside which a 72-metre-long conveyor belt became the catwalk. The models each stood stock still mirroring the heroic poses of neighbouring statues in the Tuileries Garden.
Finishing touches: Next month sees the opening of the V&A’s ‘Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams’ – the largest exhibition ever staged in the UK on the House of Dior. Curated by Oriole Cullen, the show presents around 500 objects that have shaped the codes that Jones is keen to unpick. It includes a kaleidoscopic display of vintage costume jewellery, hats, shoes and bags. For A/W 2019 Yoon Ahn created amulets and charms as a nod to Dior’s superstitious nature. The esteemed saddle bag was updated in leopard printed mink or nylon. Jones’s era at Dior is likely to be defined by his examination of the defining looks the house produced between 1947 and 1957 – Christian Dior’s own tenure. There’s a rich history here and Jones is in no rush.
Dior Men A/W 2019.
Dior Men A/W 2019.
Dior Men A/W 2019.
Dior Men A/W 2019.
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.
-
Discover Canadian modernist Daniel Evan White’s pitch-perfect homes
Canadian architect Daniel Evan White (1933-2012) had a gift for using the landscape to create extraordinary homes; revisit his story in an article from the Wallpaper* archives (first published in 2011)
-
The standout shows of Milan Fashion Week Men’s S/S 2026: Dolce & Gabbana to Paul Smith
Wallpaper* picks the very best of Milan Fashion Week Men’s S/S 2026, from a Dolce & Gabbana pyjama party to Paul Smith’s travel-inspired Milan debut
-
Paul Smith on his ‘lovely and simple’ Milan Fashion Week debut, which has been decades in the making
Wallpaper* caught up with Paul Smith ahead of his travel-inspired S/S 2026 menswear show, held in his Milanese HQ as an expression of his longstanding love of Italy
-
What the Wallpaper* editors are looking forward to at Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2026
As Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2026 begins in Florence, the Wallpaper* style team select the moments they will be looking out for – from Jonathan Anderson’s anticipated Dior debut to outings from Wales Bonner, Kiko Kostadinov and Prada
-
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
-
Horace’s new men’s scent is the linen shirt of the fragrance closet
Vetiver Primavera, the new fragrance from men’s grooming brand Horace, is casual but elegant, says Wallpaper’s Mary Cleary – a citrussy scent for summer
-
‘Don’t forget to get the bread!’ Serge Lutens writes an ode to a singular perfume
Published exclusively by Wallpaper*, Serge Lutens writes an ode to Jeux de Peau, a singular perfume of his creation inspired by a childhood memory of baking bread
-
French skincare brand PERS doesn’t believe in overcomplicated routines
French skincare brand PERS – an acronym for ‘protect, enhance, repair, and stimulate’ – has recently arrived in the UK. The mastermind behind it, Dr Antoni Calmon, tells Wallpaper* about his protocol
-
What did Christian Dior’s favourite ‘invisible’ flower smell like?
Dior’s Francis Kurkdijan recreates the scent of a rare lily of the valley species in Le Muguet, the first olfactory chapter of new perfume collection Les Récoltes Majeures
-
Inside Camperlab’s Harry Nuriev-designed Paris store, a dramatic exercise in contrast
The Crosby Studios founder tells Wallpaper* the story behind his new store design for Mallorcan shoe brand Camperlab, which centres on an interplay between ‘crushed concrete’ and gleaming industrial design
-
This perfume bottle archive was nearly lost. Now, it offers a rare whiff of fragrance history
Fifty blueprints from a forgotten French crystal manufacturer will be for sale as part of the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair