Mood board: Kim Jones’s S/S 2020 show felt confident and courteous to what has passed. The collection was framed around a collaboration with the American artist Daniel Arsham, known for his ‘Future Relic’ series (2013–2018) in which he imagines an array of everyday objects as archaeological discoveries from a future world. Arsham had previously worked with Dior on a series of window installations in 2011, when Kris Van Assche was at the helm. For Jones, he installed pieces around the show space that continued his dystopian thinking. In the middle, giant stone letters spelled out D-I-O-R with purple stalagmites and precious stones bursting through. The old breaking through the new; the archive breaking out of itself and into the future. S/S 2020 had a desert-faring mood too. Models walked on degrade sand that went from pink to white.
Best in show: Last season, the models stood on a 72-m-long conveyor belt, mirroring the heroic poses of neighbouring statues in the Tuileries Garden. This season, the sculptural approach influenced the clothes again. Shapes were supple and gently structured. Leather garments bonded and then sliced. Satin drapes wrapped around the body in an elegant, fluid continuation from last season. Half lapels on jackets fell into degrade scarves. Tone-on-tone Dior oblique monogram hinted at bas-relief. Sun-bleached neutrals and sheer fabrics lent the collection a sensual mood and sheer organza coveralls and t-shirts were worn layered. Newsprint socks revealed themselves underneath clear shoes and desert boots.
Team work: Models carried aluminium backpacks, hand cases and suitcases produced in partnership with eminent German luggage brand RIMOWA. The Dior oblique motif is inscribed onto the aluminium casing. A picnic case had a nook for a bottle of champagne. Elsewhere, in a nod to the brand’s history, Arsham has redesigned Galliano’s iconic newspaper print first introduced in the S/S 00 Haute Couture collection, and recast, eroded and remade Yoon Ahn’s jewellery designs as long-buried, modern relics. §
