Dior Men goes to Egypt

Kim Jones presents his Pre-Fall 2023 collection in front of Giza Pyramids.

Following his collaboration with Eli Russell Linnetz of ERL for a collection brimming with California cool, Kim Jones went off the grid taking a trip to Egypt to showcase his Pre-Fall 2023 Dior menswear offerings. The thought of hosting the first-ever fashion event held in front of the Pyramid of Menkaure, Pyramid of Khafre and the Great Pyramid in itself is quite bizarre — but it made sense, especially since the peripatetic designer had spent his childhood in Botswana, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya and Ghana.

Jones undertook a profoundly personal approach, in terms of his passions as well as that of the Maison, when exploring layers upon layers of the symbolism of the pyramids. After travelling in a car with a guarded traffic convoy for some kilometres south of the nation’s capital city, Cairo on Saturday evening, we arrived at the show location which boasted gigantic sandy walkways amidst the mystical backdrop of ancient wonders as Jones prepared to transport the monuments into the modern-day with a collection that transformed his models into space rangers and desert warriors.

As the sun gradually descended and the sky turned dark, techno beats began to vibrate across the powdery desert breeze — setting a futuristic tone for the scenes that followed — while the monument ridges edged with transcendent rays of light not only guided the models treading through the desert sands but also extended into the sky making the pyramids appeared like a space portal that bridges the Earth with other celestial bodies (just like what the experts from Ancient Aliens would suggest).

Shielded by trailing chiffon scarves and capes in lightweight fabrics and futuristic boots and sunglasses, the show, far from coincidentally, comprised 75 looks to mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Parisian house. “[Christian Dior’s] debut collection, with its ‘new look’, revolutionised fashion; we are here today, in its 75th anniversary year, to celebrate that event,” Jones asserts. With the future in mind, one of the collection's primary themes involves a series of silhouettes evocative of the film Dune.

Two-piece ensembles consisting of loose or fitted trousers, rhinestone-embellished shirts and sheer organza parka, in neutral tones — bleached predominantly in ivory and gradation of greys — were paired with jackets, shawls and tulle swinging back and forth, alongside high-cut boots and protective face shields worn overhead. Pops of yellow and orange were included to brighten the otherwise subdued clothing. Suiting, hanging knitwear and billowing bomber jackets ensued, accentuated with buckle belts, hand warmers, and see-through helmets. Battle-ready geometric chest guards were worn with trench coats, graphic knit tees and snakeskin over-garments, while wicker baskets were transformed into backpacks and combat footwear which flirted with futurism. They were all layered and swathed as if to achieve cocooning protection sans negating the need for easefulness and pragmatic practicality.

Jones successfully delivered the Dior Men Pre-Fall 2023 collection in a knockout destination that absorbed the Maison’s previous philosophies and applied them to the present as well as the future to an audience that exhausted all laudations by the end of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons performance.

In case you missed the show