Kris Van Assche has a very particular view of his Dior Homme. He's a man in love with dressing up to the point that he'll wear tails to go to the opera at the Palais Garnier, but only to see Pina Bausch, never something as cubic as Swan Lake. And he'd rather skateboard to the venue than front up in a cab, let alone a limo. Does such a generation—and tradition-spanning creature—exist outside of Van Assche's imagination (or that of longtime fan Karl Lagerfeld, who was once again in attendance today)? All the LVMH money riding on this presentation said it does, because Van Assche clearly felt free to be single-minded in his pursuit.
But single-mindedness suits Van Assche. He really is a one-track kind of guy, and today that track ran in a line as straight as a skinny black tie between the tux and the jogging pant that was delivered in black leather. Before the show, Van Assche was insistent that there would be no historical references. Still, his soundtrack was a live orchestra performing a symphonic interpretation of the music of French singer Koudlam. "It's what I do with the atelier," he explained, presumably meaning that he was using tradition, the past, to reshape the present.
Which, in a way, he was doing, with his implicit faith that there are boys who are missing sartorial formality in their everyday lives. Van Assche pushed that faith to the limit with the tailcoats he showed, but they were more a stylistic excess—like Alessandro Sartori's Berluti last night—to make a point. Truer to his proposal was something like the black leather parka over the bow tie and cummerbund outfit, or the tailored denim suit with the shearling gilet on top. That kind of sporty/sartorial layering is catnip to Van Assche, but in his hands it somehow managed to stiffen one without relaxing the other. Even the most "casual" denim and shearling looks here were accessorized with a white shirt and tie. The discipline was as militant as those loooong coats, which looked a little like they were hankering for action on the Western Front.
