{"id":63118,"date":"2018-03-19T15:43:01","date_gmt":"2018-03-19T14:43:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/?p=63118"},"modified":"2018-03-19T15:43:01","modified_gmt":"2018-03-19T14:43:01","slug":"kris-van-assche-dior-homme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/kris-van-assche-dior-homme\/","title":{"rendered":"Kris Van Assche Dishes on Dior Homme"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nKris Van Assche is at the helm of one of fashion\u2019s most prestigious menswear labels where his 500 Euro-a-pop-jeans keep flying off the shelves. But things haven\u2019t always been like this: His appointment as Dior Homme\u2019s creative director was initially overshadowed by comparisons to his predecessor, Hedi Slimane. There were also misunderstandings with the media, which caused the Belgian to focus on his work rather than worry about maintaining a high profile. And then there was KRIS VAN ASSCHE, his eponymous label which he had to fold last year. In conversation with Sleek \u2013 two days after showing his much lauded fall collection for Dior \u2013 the 39 year-old Belgian talks about overcoming these difficulties and arriving at a state of creative bliss.
\n\"\"
\nYou seem to enjoy keeping a relatively low profile, and don\u2019t give many interviews. Why is that?<\/em> <\/strong> \nI love a good interview because they can help explain the story behind my work, and prompt interesting discussions. But why do these conversations have to focus so much on me and my private life? It\u2019s not as if I’m a singer or a movie star. Why aren\u2019t people talking about the clothes? There are times when these personal details can help people to understand the narrative in what I do. But it\u2019s also ambivalent: You want people to get it, but you don’t want them to know everything.
\nAre you trying to manage people\u2019s perception by revealing certain aspects of your work while keeping other parts secret?<\/strong><\/em>
\nIt’s about getting your priorities right. What\u2019s important to me are the clothes I create, the quality of their designs and the creative process behind them. These days it seems like people are taking less time to concentrate on things like that. After all, we\u2019re living in the Instagram-era. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I enjoy Instagram and I have no problems with other people enjoying it; it\u2019s fun to look at while you’re taking a ride in a cab or something. But it shouldn\u2019t be the main platform for promoting a collection because fashion doesn’t always just fit into a square box \u2013 there\u2019s more to it than that. Today, we\u2019ve become obsessed with creating images that can stand out among thousands of others, and that\u2019s not always a good thing. And I feel the same way about my private life. Interviews shouldn\u2019t be about me dancing on tables. They should be about my clothes.
\nWith that in mind, what role does someone like A$AP Rocky have in the narratives you weave? He pops up in your Instagram a lot.<\/strong><\/em>
\nFor me he\u2019s die<\/em> muse, die<\/em> pop star. He has a big public profile, and I admire the way he handles it. Compared to my personal image, his is much more tied to his work as a musician, yet he\u2019s always so elegant and polite. He\u2019s also really smart, too. And it\u2019s just fun to work with him as well, because he has such a good fashion taste, and always picks the right pieces. When he came to the show two days ago, I had a whole selection for him, and he picked the exact thing that I thought he might like. So yeah, I love A$AP Rocky.
\nAnother artist you’ve worked with is the ceramicist Kristin McKirdy, who designed some of the accessories for this year\u2019s spring\/summer collection. What it is about her work that you found interesting?<\/strong><\/em>
\nWell, over the last five or ten years I\u2019ve tried to educate myself about design outside fashion. During this learning process, I’ve come across French ceramics from the Fifties, like Chambost, which I’ve also started collecting. And as result I\u2019ve also found out about contemporary ceramicists like Kristin McKirdy, whose work immediately appealed to my tastes. Not only is her pottery inspired by these Fifties pioneers, she\u2019s taking that style in new directions, too. And I could really relate to that. When designing for a house like Dior, its legacy is inescapable. So the trick is to work that heritage into something that\u2019s relevant to today.
\nHow did you end up working together?<\/em> <\/strong> \nWe met and I said, \u201cListen, I’m totally crazy about your work, I have no idea how we can collaborate but let’s talk\u201d. So we started chatting, and it transpired that she was very superstitious and into good luck charms like wishbones and fox tails \u2013 that sort of thing. I was intrigued and told her to go for it. She then made these objects that you would actually hold in your hand, like a good luck charm meets stress ball kind of a thing. And that was it. When I work with people admire, I try to let them be as free as possible, because that’s the most interesting part of collaborating with someone. You\u2019re missing the point if you\u2019re giving the other person just a tiny frame to move in.
\nIt\u2019s interesting that you mention that, as you seem to have a very different approach to creative work yourself.<\/strong><\/em>
\nWell, opposites fascinate me. I don\u2019t want to be surrounded by people who are too similar to me. Of course I want them to work to my rhythm and I want them to be organised. But style-wise and inspiration-wise I need to be confronted with different ideas.
\nCeramics aside, do you collect anything else?<\/em> <\/strong> \nI have two artworks by Rinus Van de Velde in my house. They\u2019re really something. Huge. I had to alter a wall so I can fit them in. I wouldn\u2019t do that for many artists. But I wouldn\u2019t call myself a collector, because it\u2019s a word that seems tied to the idea of investment. And I\u2019d be a very bad investor because I buy things instinctively, and not by asking a consultant which one is going to be really expensive in 20 years. I have no idea about that sort of thing. But I’m fortunate that I can surround myself with beautiful stuff because of the life I lead.
\n 
\n\"\"
\nIn 2015 you quit your own label after ten years. What\u2019s changed since you decided to focus exclusively on Dior Homme?<\/em> <\/strong> \nI’m no longer working in such a schizophrenic manner. All my ideas just go into one place. You could see this in my spring collection, but it was even more noticeable in the one that I presented two days ago. What it doesn’t mean is that I won’t ever have my own label again. But for now my attention is focused on Dior. That’s what changed. Do I work less? I wish. Do I have less fun, less creativity? No. Do I regret shutting down my own brand? Yes, of course.
\nYou\u2019ve overcome a lot of obstacles in your career. From being one of the youngest students to enroll at the Royal Academy of Art in Antwerp, to starting your own brand after six years as an assistant to Hedi Slimane and then coming back to take over as Dior Homme\u2019s creative director, you seem to relish a challenge. Would you describe yourself as a fighter?<\/strong><\/em>
\nIn what sense? Are you referring to my mental strength?
\nYes.<\/strong><\/em>
\nWell in that case: ok. At the time, I felt like I was too young to be at the Academy, and I felt the same way when I started working as an assistant in Paris. And looking back, I was probably too young when I launched my label as well. Being so young, I didn’t have the experience that I should have had. If I\u2019d been 25 when I started school in Antwerp, I would have probably got much more out of it. Does that mean I regret doing those things at such a young age? Not at all. To come Paris and to not worry about where you\u2019re gonna sleep requires the freshness of youth. And to have no worries when I quit my assistant job to start my own label at 28 years old\u2026 Maybe I was driven by courage or craziness \u2013 who knows? But whatever it was, without it my life would have been different. And maybe one day I\u2019ll re-launch my label. And if I do my life will change again.
\nWhat about the \u201cDior man\u201d, is he defined by courage?<\/strong><\/em>
\nI like to think that at Dior, we cater for a range of men. But for shows, there\u2019s this imaginary character that I have in my mind, a guy I relate to a lot. He\u2019s been there throughout the years and he just evolves and grows with everything I learn. And is he courageous? Of course.
\nBut what does that mean in 2016?<\/strong><\/em>
\nIt\u2019s about taking care of yourself, especially when there are so many bad things happening in the world. Some would say that\u2019s a superficial attitude, but I think it\u2019s courageous. Culture is what differentiates us from barbarians.
\nThe idea that men should be taking care of themselves is relatively new. Brands like Dior Homme have come a long way from operating on a license model to offering customers a whole lifestyle. How does this affect the work of a designer for a couture house that has a fan base ranging from business men to young obsessives?<\/strong><\/em>
\nThat\u2019s a million dollar question.
\nI was hoping you could answer it.<\/strong><\/em>
\nEvery collection is an attempt to answer that question. That’s the whole point, and it was the same when I arrived at Dior over nine years ago. I took over the men\u2019s division of a high-end fashion house whose look had been copied by everyone, the cheapest brands first. It\u2019s then you start asking existential questions: What\u2019s our reason for being here? Why are we putting on new shows? How do we appeal to both our \u201cclassic\u201d customers as well as our full on fashion devotees? How do all these things fit together? And today, we\u2019re still asking these questions, because the answers are always changing. Each season is an attempt to find a new solution.
\n\"\"
\nIn the show notes for the collection that you just presented, you refer to \u201ctraces of memory and traditions that still exist but without nostalgia. This is the hybridisation of now.\u201d Can you elaborate?<\/strong><\/em>
\nHybridization refers to taking different elements from different periods. Whether it’s Nineties skating or Eighties New Wave. It\u2019s about taking those and molding them into new clothes, so that they are never just straightforward reiterations of those styles, but something new. These days it seems as if some people are content to just look back into the past, back to formative periods such as the Fifties and Seventies, and declare that things simply were better back then. But isn\u2019t this retro fascination exactly what we dislike about our parents? We\u2019re living in a period where working in fashion is almost insane. We have to be more optimistic, more youthful, more hopeful and all that. And we all have to do our part. In fashion, that\u2019s about taking certain elements from the past without treating them with an excessive amount of nostalgia. It’s about taking memories and things from days gone by and pushing them forward by using them for the future.
\nHow about you \u2013 are you always focused on the future or do you allow yourself a bit of nostalgia?<\/strong><\/em>
\nI don’t like looking back. Even when I had my own label I didn’t keep old collections because I could only think about what I wanted to do better. I have a big warehouse where I store all my previous designs, but the truth is I\u2019ve never even set a foot in it.
\nBut it’s there.<\/em> <\/strong> \nIt’s there and it has tons of clothes, tons of archives.
\nWho\u2019s looking after it?<\/em> <\/strong> \nA very sweet assistant. Which is good because I really don\u2019t want to go there. So, yes, I guess for me as a designer, it’s all about the future.
\nWhat is the most rewarding thing about your job?<\/em> <\/strong> \nThat I’m fortunate to be able to tell the stories that I want to tell, and to have this platform to do so. In terms of creativity, then, I’m very happy, and that really is the most rewarding thing.
\n\"\"\u00a0<\/strong> \n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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