Dior traveling between Eliot and debut Yves Saint Laurent - Lifestyle

It was January 30, 1958 when Yves Saint Laurent presented his first collection in Paris at the helm of the Christian Dior fashion house, precisely 65 years ago.

    The then very young couturier was only 21 years old.

It is precisely to that collection that the artistic director of the Dior men's line, Kim Jones, looks and draws inspiration for the autumn-winter 2023/24 men's collection presented in Paris this afternoon.

A collection marked by modernity, movement and practicality, in which masculine and feminine mix, traditional 'British tailoring' with haute couture.

    ''The cycle of a fashion house is about regeneration and rejuvenation, just like the cycle of fashion itself - explains Jones - There is always something from the past in the present and in the future and Dior is no different.

In this collection we wanted to look at the regeneration of the maison after the death of Mr. Dior and at its renewal with Yves Saint Laurent, the heir chosen by him, drawing a parallel with literature''.

To do this and give movement and fluidity to the collection, Jones looks precisely at two rivers, the Thames and the Seine, at their waters that cross the cities, those waters that have also repeatedly inspired the British poet and essayist TS Eliot.

    The clear reference is to the 1922 poem 'The Waste Land', also presented in a theatrical representation during the show: the voices and faces of the actors Robert Pattinson and Gwendoline Christie who recite Eliot's poem are projected onto the maxi-screens.

Here the swirls and flows of water reflect those of fashion, including Dior's winter collection, where movement and fluidity are central.

    Precisely this fluidity is for Jones a reference to the dynamism

    sought by Yves Saint Laurent with his debut collection in 1958.

Gwendoline Christie, David Beckham with son Cruz, Naomi Campbell, Courtney Love and J Balvin.

(HANDLE).