To us outsiders, Egypt is mystical — the land of ancient pyramids both massive in scale and grandeur, and a rich cultural history that’s still being uncovered and studied till today. For Dior Men artistic director Kim Jones, Egypt begins with the stars and the sky.
“It’s that fascination with the ancient world and the parallels with what we look at today; what we inherited from them and what we are still learning from the past. It links to Christian Dior in that sense and by way of his fascination with symbols and superstitions that recur throughout his life and work, one of which is the star. In both the collection and the show there is an idea of ‘guided by the stars’ and what that can entail in many ways. It’s about how the past shapes the future or an idea of the future from the past,” Jones expresses.
As the evening set a stone’s throw away from the Great Pyramids in Giza, Egypt, the Dior Men fall 2023 runway show began. There was no sense in creating an elaborate set, especially when the backdrop was the pyramids themselves. The show was positioned in full view of the Great Pyramids — specially accentuated with lights — with a winding runway platform leading up to where the audience was.
The Dior Men fall 2023 collection began with a gradation of greys. The emblematic colour of the maison became the collection’s foundation, signifying the Egyptian desert descending into nightfall. Peppered throughout were infusions of a fiery orange-red and yellow tones that added much vibrance to the collection.
What started out as a combination of Dior Men’s (and Jones’ favourite) tailoring flou with sportswear elements — especially in the first couple of looks that were styled with dramatic wind-catching scarves and drapes — eventually transitioned into cinematic futurism. Milliner Stephen Jones created helmets that could very easily be part of Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming sequel to Dune. These were worn or held with looks ranging from the sportif to the more juxtaposed.
Then there were 3D-printed harnesses that acted like ornate body armour but fashioned from Dior’s Cannage motif — a stunning example of modern techniques paired with couture savoir-faire.
But what stood out was Jones’ more obvious play at a gender-neutral aesthetic. Kilts were a staple throughout the Dior Men fall 2023 collection. They were rendered in a number of lengths but always designed as half-kilts and detachable as an added accessory, fastened with that signature Matthew Williams-designed Dior Men buckle. It’s a silhouette that’s stripped from the maison’s womenswear archives — a dress from the 1950s that was called ‘Bonne Fortune’ — and while not groundbreaking in its use as a form of gender-neutrality in fashion, it was a nod to an ancient piece of menswear. Lest we forget, wearing kilts or anything that doesn’t resemble trousers were par for the course since time immemorial.
The use of the half-kilts were further emphasised with a thoroughly more languid and elongated silhouette. Jumpers, shirts and a number of knits easily ended mid-calf, looking at times like shortened thobes.
Expectedly, the Dior Men fall 2023 collection was grounded with high-cut boots. Consider the setting and these boots made complete sense. But of course, in true Dior Men fashion, they were both visually luxurious and practical — the perfect footwear to explore ancient tombs or any other mystical place that one chooses to venture into.
View the full Dior Men fall 2023 runway collection in the gallery below.
