Dior Homme
PARIS, June 26, 2010
By Tim Blanks
The piece of white cloth that arrived with the Dior Homme invitation was almost invisibly printed with the word "lessness." House designer Kris Van Assche is known for his love of abstraction, but he's clearly partial to contradiction too, because the huge, mysteriously shrouded thing at the center of his venue promised "moreness." So did the music, with the anything-but-less strings of the soundtrack from Kar Wai Wong's 2046. Combined, they made for an impressively opaque prelude to the show. It's always been like that with Kris—lots of foreplay, then a debatable payoff. In the end, though, this particular outing was an entirely straightforward and career-best iteration of Van Assche's signatures: monochrome palette, extreme volumes, and unstructured djellabalike fluidity, all of it highlighted on models of surpassing youth.His translation of the silhouettes of North Africa to urban Europe produced some striking pieces. In a sea of items without sleeves, one sleeveless duster was cut away so it moved like a swirling cloak. A jacket mutated into a shawl (an innovation that Umit Benan used to great effect in Milan last week). Caftan tops with a deep V neckline worked better than others that were clumsily draped or slashed wide open at the sides. And in a season of sandals, Dior Homme's walked on water.
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Spring 2011 Menswear
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Acne Adam Kimmel Agnès B. Alexander McQueen Alexis Mabille Ann Demeulemeester -
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Balenciaga Bottega Veneta Burberry Prorsum -
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Calvin Klein Collection Christophe Lemaire Comme des Garçons Costume National -
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D&G Dior Homme Dolce & Gabbana Dries Van Noten Dsquared² Dunhill -
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Emporio Armani Ermenegildo Zegna Etro -
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Gianfranco Ferré Giorgio Armani Givenchy Gucci -
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Haider Ackermann Hermès -
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Iceberg Issey Miyake -
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Jean Paul Gaultier Jil Sander John Galliano John Varvatos Junya Watanabe -
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Kenzo Kris Van Assche -
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Lanvin Louis Vuitton -
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Marni Miharayasuhiro Missoni Moncler Gamme Bleu Moschino -
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Neil Barrett -
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Paul Smith Prada Pringle of Scotland -
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Raf Simons Rick Owens Roberto Cavalli -
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Salvatore Ferragamo -
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Thom Browne Trussardi 1911 -
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Umit Benan -
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Versace Viktor & Rolf -
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Walter Van Beirendonck -
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Yohji Yamamoto Yves Saint Laurent -
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More MENSWEAR SPRING 2011
- Acne
- Agnès B.
- Balenciaga
- Dunhill
- Lanvin
- Paul Smith
- Thom Browne
- Ann Demeulemeester
- Dior Homme
- Hermès
- Kenzo
- Miharayasuhiro
- Raf Simons