Dior Homme's Kris Van Assche on the Meaning of Luxury & Today's Ever-Changing Fashion Landscape
“Dior is luxury, and Dior homme is the men’s division of a luxury house.”
“What is Dior Homme supposed to be about?” That was the first question Kris Van Assche asked himself when he became the brand’s artistic director nine years ago. The answer was simple — a men’s division of a luxury house. A relatively new menswear department at the time, Van Assche was able to carve out Dior Homme’s legacy amidst the brand’s flourishing women’s line. Needless to say, he’s done so beautifully. Now that menswear is booming, Van Assche is really able to experiment with various themes and inspirations, the latest of which saw him pick apart skate and punk cultures and apply it to high fashion.
The designer recreated the brand’s Fall/Winter 2016 show in Hong Kong, and we had the chance to speak with him on a range of topics within the current state of fashion. With numerous designers having left their posts and major changes in fashion houses, we had to ask — what did he think of it all? The calm and collected Van Assche simply said, “High-end luxury takes time, so see-now, buy-now doesn’t apply to our philosophy because luxury takes time.” With that, Van Assche underlines his commitment to the quintessence of Dior.
