Major maneuvers are continuing within LVMH. After leaving the men's ready-to-wear department of Louis Vuitton, Kim Jones takes the artistic direction of Dior Homme. He takes over from Kris Van Assche, who leaves the house after eleven years in this position. The Flemish-born Belgian designer will nevertheless continue to "exert his creativity within the LVMH group", announces the company, stating that "its new responsibilities will be announced very soon".
It was felt at Versace, then at Burberry, it is finally at Dior, that landed Kim Jones, for whom he will sign his first parade next June, during the week of men's fashion in Paris.
By integrating the prestigious fashion house, the English designer (38 years) wins at LVMH after seven years at the head of Louis Vuitton's men's fashion, during which he was able to breathe a breath of fresh air by introducing in particular for the first time, a streetwear spirit combined with luxury.
The designer managed not only to dust the man Louis Vuitton, but to turn it into a cult line with celebrities. As evidenced by the global success of its collaboration with the New York brand Supreme last year.
The cosmopolitan and passionate art stylist was born in London in 1979. Joined at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London, he graduated with a Master's degree in men's fashion in 2002. His graduation collection, including John Galliano redeems part, is acclaimed by the press and the middle. And Kim Jones is admitted to London Fashion Week in 2003, where he presents his brand of menswear rather street and sport.
While managing his label, which he will suspend a few years later, the hyperactive designer multiplies the collaborations (among others with Umbro, Hugo Boss, Topman, Iceberg). The British Fashion Awards winner, who also worked with Alexander McQueen, was named in 2008 by the British tailor Dunhill, where he became artistic director until he was co-opted in 2011 by Louis Vuitton.
Accustomed to traveling from his earliest childhood, following his family in Ecuador, Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Botswana) and the Caribbean, the creator nomadic and curious about everything will certainly write a new chapter exciting at Dior Homme, revisiting the codes of the French house with a certain British cool spirit combined with a pinch of exoticism.
This is a completely different course, than that of Kris Van Assche (41 years). Originally from Londerzeel, a small Flemish town in Belgium where he grew up, graduated in 1998 at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, the stylist arrives in Paris to do an internship at Yves Saint Laurent. It is there that he meets Hedi Slimane, at the time at the head of the masculine collections of the brand, which he will follow at Dior Homme in 2000.
In 2004, he goes to create his own label. But he is reminded at Dior in the spring of 2007 to take the direction of the male creation after the departure of Hedi Slimane. The Belgian designer will eventually put his house on stand-by in 2015 to focus on the men's line of Dior.
Known for his urban and minimalist style, combining modernity and tradition, Kris Van Assche has transformed the Dior man into a decade, brilliantly exalting his two facets - tailoring and fashion - while enriching his wardrobe with sportswear and accessories. . It has allowed the men's division of the house to gain in size by increasing its business, which has grown from 100 to 350 million euros in sales in 11 years.
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"I salute Kris Van Assche who has contributed to the tremendous growth of Dior Homme by creating a contemporary and elegant male silhouette. He wrote an important chapter in the history of Dior Homme and played a vital role in its development, "comments in a statement the new CEO of Christian Dior Couture, Pietro Beccari.
Just a month ago, it was also announced the departure of Serge Brunschwig, who had been managing Dior Homme since 2015, and who was appointed Fendi's president and CEO, succeeding Pietro Beccari who left for Christian Dior.
Since he took the reins of the fashion house at the beginning of the year, the Italian manager does not seem to have lost time and could book other surprises. Rumors and indiscretions are multiplying, in fact, around a possible departure of Maria Grazia Chiuri, artistic director of women at Christian Dior since July 2016.