Kim Jones is stepping down from Dior after seven years as its inventive director of males’s collections.
In a short assertion, Dior expressed “its deepest gratitude” to Jones, who has “accelerated the event of males’s collections internationally and has tremendously contributed to the worldwide affect of the home by creating an inspiring wardrobe that’s each basic and up to date, and linked to some artists of our time.”
The British designer‘s resignation comes one week after he paraded Dior’s fall 2025 menswear on a minimalist set of grand, white staircases – and was adorned as a Knight of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest civilian ornament.
There was no point out of any successor within the launch, and Dior declined additional remark.
Jones’ subsequent transfer couldn’t instantly be realized.
Kim Jones on the runway on the Dior Homme trend present throughout Paris Vogue Week Menswear Fall 2025 on January 24, 2025 in Paris, France.
Giovanni Giannoni/WWD
The event is certain to additional gas hypothesis that Loewe trend star Jonathan Anderson could quickly be put in at Dior, a chance mooted for months – and floated by luxurious analysts at HSBC.
“It was a real honor to have been capable of create my collections inside the home of Dior, an emblem of absolute excellence,” Jones stated within the assertion. “I specific my deep gratitude to my studio and the ateliers who’ve accompanied me on this glorious journey. They’ve introduced my creations to life.
“I’d additionally prefer to take this chance to thank the artists and pals I’ve met by means of my collaborations. Lastly, I really feel honest gratitude in direction of Bernard and Delphine Arnault, who’ve given me their full help,” he added.
Delphine Arnault, chairman and chief govt officer of Christian Dior Couture, stated she was “extraordinarily grateful for the outstanding work performed by Kim Jones, his studio, and the ateliers. With all his expertise and creativity, he has consistently reinterpreted the home’s heritage with real freedom of tone and stunning, extremely fascinating inventive collaborations.”
One of many world’s most outstanding menswear designers, Jones additionally logged seven years at Louis Vuitton earlier than becoming a member of Dior, parlaying his zest for unique journey into ultraluxurious collections with understated cool and sly performance.
Three months in the past, Jones additionally stepped down at Fendi after an eventful four-year collaboration that noticed the Roman home dabble with collaborations and vacation spot exhibits.
His successor at Fendi has but to be named. His title there was inventive director of high fashion, ready-to-wear and fur collections for ladies.
The Kaws set at Dior males’s spring 2019 present.
Stephane Feugere/WWD
To make certain, Jones catapulted Dior menswear on to the radar of hype beasts by collaborating with the likes of Kaws, Daniel Arsham, Shawn Stussy, 1017 Alyx 9SM, and Raymond Pettibon.
In 2020, roughly 5 million individuals – roughly the inhabitants of Eire or New Zealand – registered for an opportunity to purchase his limited-edition Air Jordan 1 OG Dior sneakers.
The Air Jordan 1 Excessive OG Dior
Courtesy of Dior
Extra just lately, his collaborations have been extra esoteric and diversified, with celebrities like Travis Scott, cultural establishments together with the Charleston Belief, and main artists together with Amoako Boafo, Kenny Scharf, Hajime Sorayama, Peter Doig and, most just lately, South African grasp potter Hylton Nel for Dior’s spring 2025 assortment.
At Dior, Jones additionally accrued a fame as a gifted showman. Units for his exhibits have featured a 39-foot tall robotic sculpture, replicas of the Pont Alexandre III bridge and Christian Dior’s Granville dwelling, and hydraulic lifts that made fashions rise after which disappear from the runway.
He additionally added itinerant exhibits to his workload at Dior, which reached a zenith in 2022 with a males’s pre-fall assortment unveiled in opposition to the backdrop of the pyramids of Giza close to Cairo, Egypt.
The Dior pre-fall 2023 menswear present in entrance of the pyramids in Giza.
Stephane Feugere/WWD
Earlier than Jones, Belgian designer Kris Van Assche was on the inventive helm of Dior Homme from 2007 to 2018; and Hedi Slimane from 2000 to 2007. Patrick Lavoix was inventive director of Christian Dior Monsieur from 1992 till Slimane arrived, modified the identify of the model to Dior Homme and ramped up its affect.
A preferred, peripatetic determine on the style scene, Jones counts a slew of well-known pals – from Demi Moore and David Beckham to Donatella Versace, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss – and cultivates quite a few pursuits exterior of trend, together with the Bloomsbury Group, botany, zoology and “Star Wars” paraphernalia.
Over time, his identify has been floated for quite a lot of European trend homes, together with Versace, Burberry and Chanel.
A graduate of Central Saint Martins in London and a globe-trotter extraordinaire, Jones has had a storied trend profession, with John Galliano snapping up his graduate assortment.
His personal males’s put on label, launched in 2003 and prized for its sporty, streetwise aptitude, lasted for eight seasons and attracted the eye of Dunhill, the place he was inventive director from 2008 to 2011.
In 2020, the designer was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in Queen Elizabeth II’s Birthday Honours Record for providers to trend. The identical yr, the Council of Vogue Designers of America handed him the Worldwide Males’s Designer of the 12 months Award,
In 2019, WWD honored Jones as its Menswear Designer of the 12 months at its flagship Attire and Retail CEO Summit.
Jones additionally took dwelling British Vogue Awards in 2006, 2009, 2019 and 2021. Early in his profession, he additionally labored for Alexander McQueen, Mulberry, Hugo Boss and Umbro.
