DIOR MEN Pre-Fall 2021 Menswear

This time last December, Kim Jones’s many fans across the fashion and art worlds were gathered in Miami Beach. His Dior Men show was a Basel-adjacent affair, complete with a walk-through of the new Rubell Museum. The pandemic scuttled plans to stage a show in Beijing for Jones’s latest outing—there was a livestreamed video and a screening party at the city’s Phoenix International Media Center instead—but in every other way, this collection is just as ambitious as that pre-COVID occasion.

The coronavirus crisis shuttered businesses across New York City this year. Still, even on the quietest days of the summer, there was a line outside SoHo’s Dior Men store. Jones has a phenomenon on his hands; there are similar lines in Los Angeles and other cities. “People like to feel part of a gang, only now because of social media it is much more global,” he said on a Zoom call. These off-season collections feed that global excitement.

Last year, Jones revealed a colorful collaboration with Shawn Stussy, the streetwear OG. This season, he tapped Kenny Scharf, an American artist who emerged from the 1980s East Village scene, making street art alongside his friends Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. “The fun and the energy of that time—you see young kids being excited by Kenny Scharf’s work. It’s speaking across generations,” Jones said.

Scharf’s canvases can now fetch up to six figures, but he still has street cred: Via “Karbombz,” a public art project, he’s tagged upwards of 300 cars with his imaginary creatures—all for free. Together, the designer and the artist selected contemporary pieces and older ones to reproduce, including When the Worlds Collide, a 1984 canvas in the Whitney’s permanent collection. Scharf also designed 12 Chinese zodiac signs for the show’s knits and underpinnings, and, of course, he had free rein to reinterpret the Dior logo.

“I just wanted it to be a very full-on version, using specific techniques to recreate his work in really beautiful ways, to make it even more Pop,” Jones said. In some cases, the Dior ateliers were joined by Chinese artisans who rendered Scharf paintings in delicate seed embroideries. Silhouette-wise, Jones’s instinct was to soften his distinctive tailoring and give it a more lounge-y attitude. Jackets are belted like robes and pants are easy; some of the models wear Oblique-patterned slippers. We are still locked in, after all.

Answering needs or triggering desire, Jones erases distinctions between high and low, and his roving eye sees heroes in all places. This season he invited the DJ Honey Dijon to the party, and she enlisted Lady Miss Kier to record a Dior-ified rendition of Deee-Lite’s megahit “What Is Love?” The intergalactic vibe of the runway video was partly inspired by Jones’s interest in The Mandalorian. “I thought it was fun to bring all these things together in a time when it’s quite negative, and to have a bit of optimism,” he said.

Scharf, whose first show was at New York’s Fiorucci boutique in 1979 and earliest fashion hookup was with Stephen Sprouse, is the perfect Jones collaborator. His work gleefully obliterates boundaries too. “I’m one of the inventors of all that,” Scharf said on a call from his L.A. studio. He raved about Jones: “He’s a listener, he’s a learner, and that shows. He went really deep into what I’m doing.” Those lines outside Greene Street seem only bound to grow.

Source: VogueRunway/Nicole Phelps

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The CFDA and Retail Industry Sends Letter to the White House Calling for Support Amidst Coronavirus Crisis

Lower Manhattan streets are all but emptied of shoppers. Photo: VogueRunway/Getty Images

As the coronavirus pandemic has taken hold of the U.S. over the last week, designers have been outspoken about the challenges facing the fashion industry in this crisis. Citing impending cash flow issues for brands up and down the price spectrum Prabal Gurung told Vogue that “this situation will not be fixed by a sale.” Brandon Maxwell, for his part, said “my main focus through all of this is going to be my team and keeping everyone employed, number one, and making sure everyone is feeling healthy, mentally and physically.” Retailers, too, have been forthright about the struggles posed by “stay-at-home” and “shelter in place” regulations. “The supply chain is severely affected by this. I can only imagine, in the coming months, how it will affect things for next season... There is no question that it will be a challenging year ahead of us,” said Andrew Dryden, the co-founder of LA’s menswear mecca Departamento.

Yesterday, the CFDA and 90 business groups including the National Retail Federation, the Accessories Council, and the Fashion Footwear Association of New York brought their concerns to the White House, sending a letter to President Trump calling for economic stabilization efforts amidst the coronavirus pandemic. The letter begins by commending the Administration and Congress for their public health efforts and actions to minimize the economic fallout caused by the spread of the virus. It goes on, however, to state: “The economic harm from social distancing and mandatory store closures is real. Layoffs and economic hardship will surely follow, particularly for smaller, specialty retailers and brands. The biggest single issue facing the industry right now is liquidity, and federal stimulus efforts must be swift and flexible enough to address the urgent need for access to credit to keep these businesses afloat.” The letter concludes by encouraging policymakers to develop proposals that support the retail workforce and to provide a “bridge” for retail businesses of all sizes to stay viable during the crisis.

“The fashion business has been hit hard and from every angle. American Fashion is a $400 billion driving force of the US economy employing 4 million people, not including retail jobs. The retail industry is the nation’s largest private-sector employer, contributing $4 trillion to annual GDP and supporting one in four U.S. jobs—53 million working Americans,” said Tom Ford, Chairman of the Board of the CFDA. “Tory Burch has been actively driving a CFDA effort to urge the President and Congress that fashion and retail be part of any stimulus packages being developed. She quickly organized a group of industry leaders who were behind the letter that was sent the President on Saturday. The CFDA’s strength lies within it members, and we are thankful for Tory’s commitment to our industry.”

“It is imperative that our government, the federal reserve, regulators, and the public understand the vital importance of our industry to the overall economy of the United States,” Burch told Vogue. “Directly and indirectly we are one of the largest employers and contributors to the GDP. We must make our voices heard ... for our industry and our country!”

John Idol, the Chairman and CEO of Capri Holdings, parent company of Michael Kors, Versace, and Jimmy Choo, echoed Burch’s sentiments: “As with all Americans, the most important issue facing us is employment. We know that this pandemic will eventually subside and the industry will return to a new normal. In the interim, we need financial assistance in the form of immediate payroll subsidies, no-interest loans, and extended tax-payment relief in order for us to continue our commitment to retain our employees.”

In Washington DC today, negotiations around a stimulus package of approximately $1.4 trillion are ongoing. As the retail industry waited to hear the outcome—an announcement is expected Monday morning—Marc Metrick, the President of Saks Fifth Avenue, emphasized the importance of community: “Our utmost priority is the health and well-being of our people, customers, and communities. Our industry has historically faced and overcome a number of headwinds. This situation is not only unprecedented, but also constantly evolving. The best and most important thing we can do today is to work together as an industry, so that all of us can weather this storm and come out the other side.”

Source: Nicole Phelps/ VogueRunway

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