For Spring/Summer 2018, Kris Van Assche celebrates his 10th year anniversary at the helm of Dior Homme with a new ‘Christian Dior Atelier’ logo on yet another youth-inspired runway. “Late Night Summer” is a story based on young men staying out all night for their first time, sharing first time experiences – their first beers and first time meeting girls – Dior Homme’s portrayal of freedom, innocence, curiosity and playfulness.
While most of us would associate tailoring styles with traditional, tried-and-tested techniques, Kris Van Assche challenges and reinterprets modern menswear tailoring, with his jackets all cut in bias. The creative director incorporates contrasting styles – adopting a play on fit, volume and proportions injected into the atelier’s black suits and white ties. While he explores the concept of adolescence, models are decorated with logo ribbons as accessories on their necks, brooches or as unexpected embellishments on suit sets.
In his recent interview for his S/S18 collection on DiorTV, Van Assche talks about taking things out of context by deconstruction and reconstruction, combining elements of sportswear while preserving the heritage of the French Atelier. This contrast is evidently seen in the sports-inspired outfits – garments taped with baseball sleeve finishings, tailored vests layered with varsity-style sweaters, and fitted silhouettes teamed with fluid trousers, and sneakers or boots.
A part of his S/S18 collection also features French painter Francois Bard, who serve his classical paintings as graphic prints on Dior Homme’s S/S 18 collection. If Bard and Kriss Van Assche have one thing in common, it is that both reinvent traditional artistry into contemporary masterpieces.
Watch the interview with Kris Van Assche for DiorTV.
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