For S/S11, Kris Van Assche continues to remake the Dior Homme man in his own image- a softer, more romantic take on menswear. The beautifully contemplative Korean movie, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring was the starting point for the collection, specifically the central message of the movie – “that less is more.” So he stripped the suit down to its basic components and colours were pared back to a strict palette of black, white and putty. A poetic wanderlust is never far from Van Assche’s mind, with his travels through India and Peru inspiring the dramatic, swirling cloaks and jackets that morphed into shawls. A world away from Slimane’s razor sharp aesthetic, the sense of ease and movement balanced with extreme rigor in the S/S11 collection betrays Van Assche’s growing confidence in his place at Dior Homme. Kin Woo spoke to Van Assche about the collection and his first foray into the digital realm – a film with photographer Willy Vanderperre starring Danish model, Victor Nylander.
The collection was titled Lessness and you talked about searching for a sense of harmony and balance – how did that translate to the collection?
Kris Van Assche: The collection was inspired by the Korean movie ‘Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter… and Spring’ which is all about a Buddhist teacher explaining that “less is more”. I felt that for Dior Homme, the time had come to redefine a modern vision on luxury, based on beautiful fabrics and finishings, beautiful and comfortable volumes. I banned all forms of distraction and tried to keep only the essential. The work with the ateliers was most important for this collection where all clothes were fluid and often made out of a single layer of fabric. Some of the pieces like jackets used the raw edges of the fabric which made for a rough minimal effect, but requested rethinking the structure of the pieces as a whole.
