Deft Punk — The Modernity of Kim Jone's Dior Men Winter'19 and Raymond Pettibon's Punk Sensibilities - Men's Folio
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Deft Punk — The Modernity of Kim Jone’s Dior Men Winter’19 and Raymond Pettibon’s Punk Sensibilities

  • By Bryan Goh


One might not think it, but Monsieur Christian Dior was one of the punks of his generation. In an era where the preferred choices of careers were businessmen, diplomats or anything “dignified”, Monsieur Dior decided to quit school and owned an art gallery for three years before shuttering it due to the Great Depression.

This sentimental love for art is not lost on creative director Kim Jones as seen with his previous collaborations with artists, KAWS for Summer ‘19 and Hajime Sorayama in Pre-Fall ‘19 – a punk sensibility peeks through the juxtaposition of street versus luxury and commercial versus arty. Jones’s punk streak comes from his personal love and collection of 1970s British punk garments and accessories.

Fast forward to today, people take the theme “punk” at face value (recall Met Gala 2013), and there are not many contenders for true punks. Hence, for Dior Men Winter ‘19, Jones decided to turn one eye towards the future for contemporary clothing and the other eye into the past at a punk who has truly lived punk – famed 1970s American artist Raymond Pettibon. 



Have you seen American hardcore punk band Black Flag’s logo tattooed on the skin of some baby boomers? Raymond Pettibon designed that. What about the two shaggy-haired lads with dark frames on Sonic Youth’s Goo in the 1990s? That was also illustrated by Pettibon. The wave of artists who illustrate using aggressive line art, inject politically-driven statements, and feature pop-culture characters (Batman, Superman, and Felix The Cat) in their artwork would most likely cite Raymond Pettibon as their inspiration.

Art aficionados perusing the Dior Men Winter ‘19 collection will zoom in to two of Pettibon’s most iconic work – a figure inspired by the Mona Lisa that is depicted on silk shirts and a pair of eyes against an impressionistic sky that peeks from the front of shirts and vests (the beaded vest takes 15 people 1,600 hours to create).


The true genius of Pettibon’s creative prowess lies in his subtle injection of the punk spirit into the collection – a spray-painted floral version of the Dior Animal Print (titled Punk Panthére), the reimagining of the house’s logotype reworked by Yoon Ahn, and phone cases rendered in Pettibon-printed plexiglass. Despite being deftly introduced into the collection, no one is going to dismiss its Parisian Punk appeal.

Men’s Folio had the privilege of delving deeper into Pettibon’s creative universe as the artist discusses his artwork, inspirations, and favourable opinion of the collaboration.

What is your approach to art?
My life struggle and love since I can remember.

How would you describe your art then?
There is a thread to be sought.

Is there a message you try to deliver with your works?
Love through art.

Who inspires you the most?
My inspiration comes from my mother.

How much does the world of fashion influence your art?
I think fashion and art meet together like a finely knit sweater. I absolutely think that the art world and fashion are a match, though I wouldn’t say a perfect match, perhaps. But certainly, there’s very little separation, nor should there be. I came from poverty and then from punk. Punk’s anti-fashion ideology is fashion to the extreme.

How did this collaboration with Dior Men come about?
Kim contacted me through our mutual friend Stella Schnabel. When I heard of his interest, I wasn’t in need of any persuasion to agree.

Prior to this collaboration, were you familiar with Kim Jones’s work?

Yes, I had admired Kim’s work for some time.

What are your thoughts on the Dior Men Winter ‘19 collection?

I think they did a very good job integrating my artwork into their fashion pieces.

What was the curation process like?

Kim knew I had made drawings with animals in them and asked me to make some new works with leopards specifically. These spotted patterns were then used for prints on the fabrics. Other imageries were pulled from already finished works in my archives. I was impressed that Kim was interested in both images and text for the collection.

How did it feel watching your art take form on clothing?
I was impressed, and I am always pleased to see my work come to life in another form.

After this experience, would you be keen to explore more fashion collaborations?
Most of the opportunities I’ve had working with fashion have been organic, had some kind of connection to the Art World, and have been based on a mutual admiration for craft. I’ve collaborated with other designers in the past, but this is the first time at a couture level.

What is in the pipeline for you?
I am currently working on a show that will take place at David Zwirner in Hong Kong. I am not certain what that will encompass, and I won’t know until it is finished. There is also a staged reading performance project involving my scripts scheduled for November.