Kris Van Assche's new Dior Homme collection wanted to bring a not immediately appealing character—an haute bourgeoisie Frenchman—to the street and leave him there, to let his hidebound conventions of dress slowly dissolve into a hybrid of sartoria and sportswear. That felt like an idea that might have appeared in a movie at some point. It was certainly visual enough. But when the first outfit to appear featured a three-piece flannel suit, a button-down shirt in a businessman blue, and trainers for louche effect, there was a moment when one worried that Van Assche was not going to pursue his concept to its logical, and quite possibly appealing, extreme. Trainers with a three-piece doesn't exactly constitute "the playful subversion of the rules of masculine dress" promised by the designer's show notes.
In fact, playful subversion was never really the order of the day. The most outré element in the collection was the ceramic talismans created by artist Kristin McKirdy, which were carried by a handful of models at the start of the show. They were curious, pagan little things, and quite beautiful. But Van Assche did come up with an idea that gave his lineup a very appealing accent. It was the orange of the lining of an MA-1 jacket, a streetwear staple since at least the mid-1970s, when skins and, later, punks took to it. Orange underpinned short-sleeve shirts, lined coats and parkas, and, reversed, became a bomber jacket or a luxurious croc blouson. Van Assche's fascination with iconic emblems of menswear continued with his use of camouflage. He mixed it with classic Argyle, lined a classic navy blazer and tan parka with it, and made it the base for the embroidered flowers that decorated the finale.
"In all disorder, a secret order." That's what Van Assche called his collection. If only he'd flipped the formula: In all order, a secret disorder. In this presentation, there were so many narrow-collared shirts buttoned right up to the neck, so many ties knotted tightly round those necks. Up-tightly. Controlled. So ironed, earnest, and precise. One of the most endearing qualities of the Belgian designers we've come to know and love is their ability to undercut precision with chaos. No surprises there—a surfeit of control usually invites its opposite. But Van Assche's discipline denies his passion. He needs to turn up the heat.
