Discovering Kim Jones Seven things to know about the man who's defining contemporary menswaer aestethic
Since 1997, when Marc Jacobs has taken its artistic director office, Louis Vuitton has entered a reinvention whirlwind becoming the most valued luxury brand in the world, with a current value of about 24.9 million dollars. The innovative wave that has characterized the past few decades did not stop even in the new millennium, leading in 2011 to the choice of the British enfant prodige Kim Jones as its new creative mind for the Men's Ready-to-Wear division.
Considered as the founder of the working class mid style, Kim Jones graduated from Saint Martin in 2002 with a collection inspired by the club scene, mixing together casual styles and luxury fabrics. Since then Jones continued to redefine the aesthetics of the modern man until he became the creative mind of one of the biggest growth areas in the fashion world - Louis Vuitton - brilliantly succeeding in marrying the true ethos of the French giant with innovative cuts and new visions.
“It's something I could never not think of doing (...) I can only be in the office for about two weeks. Then I need to go and do something else. It's just that I need to see things.”
#1 Kim Jones spends his childhood in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and the Caribbean chasing his parents in their business trips. The experience will be extremely forming and becomes a source of inspiration for a nostalgic cameo in 2012 with his debut collection inspired by Africa and the photographer Peter Beard.
#3 John Galliano bought half of Kim Jones’ graduate collection for himself. Nothing to add.
#4 Despite many young designers who prefer to make a name with their own collections, Kim Jones not only founded his own label (reaping enormous success especially in Japan) but decided to focus on collaboration with already institutional brands from TopShop and Alexander McQueen to Umbro and Pastelle (a brand owned by Kanye West).
#6 In 2008 Kim Jones surprised the fashion world with a partnership with Dunhill, the British giant of luxury leather which in 2009 made him won the award for Menswear Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Council.
#7 By the time his collaboration with Louis Vuitton was announced in 2011, the mix of Jones's imagination and the luxury market owned him to win the Menswear Designer Of The Year for the second time in a row. Kim Jones is nominated for the prestigious award this year too.
