SNAKE CHARMER: Six years after making his debut for Dior with a show featuring a 33-foot tall sculpture by Kaws, Kim Jones is reuniting with the U.S. artist for a capsule collection of menswear.
Back in 2018, Kaws made a spectacular statement with his towering figure made of 70,000 flowers. He also worked with Jones on a capsule line featuring his interpretation of the bee, a historic emblem of the French fashion house, in the first of a series of artist collaborations that marked the beginning of the designer’s tenure at Dior.
For their new project, Kaws zoned in on a snake symbol, which he has woven through with the Dior logo on items including a pale pink varsity jacket, baggy track pants accented with Dior Oblique-patterned stripes, and satiny shirts quilted in the house’s signature cannage pattern. On other items, the reptile forms the CD initials.
“Kaws is incredible as a person and an artist. He is someone I really admire. It was a pleasure working with him for the summer 2019 collection and now I thought that it might be good to bring back a Kaws element,” Jones said in a statement.
He noted that the capsule line comes a year after his tie-up with Japanese artist Otani, which was his first new collaboration with a contemporary artist since 2021. “I wanted to have something fun and pop. It’s a bit like Pop Art,” Jones said of the Kaws project.
A look from the Dior x Kaws capsule collection.
Brett Lloyd/Courtesy of Dior
The collection, set to land in Dior stores on Jan. 2 as part of its resort drop, is priced from 270 euros for a tie to 8,800 euros for a jacket with patches. Bags retail from 1,700 euros for a Mini Rider messenger bag to 2,500 euros for a backpack, while shoes are priced from 990 euros for the B33 sneakers to 1,250 euros for a pair of B57s.
Nodding to Kaws’ origins as a graffiti artist and skateboarder, some of the looks are paired with the brand’s new chunky B35 NXXT sneakers, in colors such as neon yellow and red.
The shoe design is one of the last from Thibo Denis, Dior’s head of footwear since 2017, who recently moved over to LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton stablemate Louis Vuitton.
Jones has nurtured the thriving relationship between fashion and art through frequent tie-ups with artists, though he changed tack in 2021 to broaden his collaborations to celebrities, cultural institutions and other designers.
In addition to Kaws, he has worked with leading artists including Daniel Arsham, Kenny Scharf, Hajime Sorayama, Peter Doig and, most recently, South African master potter Hylton Nel for his spring 2025 collection.
A look from the Dior x Kaws capsule collection.
Brett Lloyd/Courtesy of Dior
