A one-way trip to Planet Dior with contemporary artist Kenny Scharf

 

 

Dior translated fantastical Kenny Scharf cartoon characters into glowing playful prints.

For Fall 2021, Kim Jones, Artistic Director of Dior Men’s collection, shares a wave of optimism, drawing inspiration from the pop universe of American contemporary artist Kenny Scharf. Featuring bright day-glow colors, the resolutely playful collection is an invitation to a one-way trip to Planet Dior. Thomas Vanz’s colorful ink and glitter videos created a magical galaxy as the backdrop for Kim Jones’ silhouettes for Dior Menswear.

Welcome to a virtual world where everything becomes possible.

At the crossroads of pop culture and science fiction

Dior Men’s collaboration with artist Kenny Scharf punctuates the collection in the form of hyper colorful prints that light up everything from outerwear to iconic ‘Saddle’ bags, with a focus on Chinese culture and artistry – an original inspiration for Christian Dior himself – expressed in zodiac animal motifs and elaborate embroideries. Simultaneously a springboard for the dynamic evolution of the luxury House’s traditional tailoring expertise, the collection was presented in a surreal scenography that pulsed with fantastical astrological imagery by Thomas Vanz.

A huge fan of science-fiction and street art who is famous for characters that seem to have jumped straight out of cartoons, Kenny Scharf infuses his work with humor.

“When we started the collection we were coming out of the first lockdown and I wanted to spread some joy, happiness and hope,” says Kim Jones, Artistic Director of Dior Men’s collections in an exclusive video presenting the expertise that went into his Fall 2021 collection.

Kenny Scharf loves the clash of colors – yellow and purple, orange and blue, red and green. “When you take the happy and sad opposites and put them together, it creates the tension and excitement that I love,” the artist said in a statement.

Scharf’s bright-hued mélanges appear in the dyed hair of models as well as the scenography by French director Thomas Vanz, who avows a fascination with astrophysics.

In an homage to the iconic Dior Bar, jackets are belted at the waist over pants cropped above the ankle. The New Look for outer space is embellished with chrysanthemum blooms as boutonnieres, created specially by Maison Lemarié.

Dior Ateliers translated Kenny Scharf’s works into prints, fusing them with the famous Dior Oblique motif and appropriating them for embroidery executed using traditional Chinese techniques. China also inspired new drawings by the artist denoting Chinese zodiac animal characters printed on sweaters, as well as stunning jade jewelry by Yoon Ahn. Tamborin-style berets – a favorite of Christian Dior – were designed by Stephen Jones and embroidered in China. Thousands of tiny pearls and stitches were embroidered using a centuries-old Chinese technique to meticulously reproduce the fantastical Kenny Scharf cartoon characters curated by Kim Jones.