Runway 28 Jun 2021

“It’s Making Your Imagination Come To Life”: Travis Scott And Kim Jones On Their Collaborative Dior SS22 Men’s Show

For a collection that merged the maison's luxury craftsmanship with Scott's signature streetwear edge

by Anders Christian Madsen

For his return to the runway – with an actual live audience – Kim Jones called upon Travis Scott to collaborate on a Dior men’s collection like no other. A serial collaborator, Jones has often painted his designs in the works of visual artists, but this season marked a different approach to the method. Scott worked with Jones on every element of the collection, from silhouette to motif and surface decoration, imbuing it with the distinct taste and styling touches that have made him a style icon in his own right. A conversation between Paris and Texas – where Scott grew up – the collection drew on his memories of the Lone Star State, layering it with Dior’s own history. In 1947, Christian Dior travelled to Texas to show his debut collection to the state’s wealthy clientele. Presented in a cactus garden surrounded by a pink sky, Scott and Jones’s Dior collection suspended itself between the savoir-faire of the maison, and the streetwear community where Scott earned his fashion education. Anders Christian Madsen met the artist and the designer in their Dior atelier.

How did you approach the collection?

Kim Jones: It’s inspired by the way Travis dresses, but also by Dior.

Travis Scott: I’ve known Kim for quite some years now. Towards the middle of last year, he came to me with this idea. We had some hard design sessions for a couple of months. I would draw some graphics and send it to him. We sat down with mad refs, breaking down where we felt like we wanted to take it. We went through the archive of old Dior things. Me, coming in and being able to have those in my hands… (smiles)

What elements inspired you?

TS: Some of the patterns we did were based on the stitching from dresses and suits Dior did when he first came in. Some of the stitching would be flat and some of it would be pushed up like embroidery, so we moved that into suits and jackets and patterns.

KJ: We wanted it to be Dior with Travis’s element on top. Travis has some people working with him and there was this complete conversation going on between the studios, with everyone in different places.

What informed the colours?

TS: If you look at the colour scheme’s origin, it’s where I’m from, which is Houston.

KJ: The pink is the sky over Houston, the green is the cactus, the brown is the soil. That’s one of your favourite colours, brown?

TS: Yeah.

KJ: We added the white and black, which are classic Dior, so bringing the two together.

What are the most important elements in the collection?

KJ: The silhouette of the suit is new for Dior. That, plus the saddle bag, has created two new things for Dior that will live on. The saddle bag will be in the archive in the history of Dior forever, and I think that’s what’s really good.

What makes Travis’s sense of style so unique?

KJ: It’s about taste, isn’t it? Some people have it, some don’t. Luckily you do!

TS: (laughs)

Where does your taste come from?

TS: Maybe, like, my mom? Or movies? John Hughes and Stanley Kubrick are some of my favourite directors. And I love anime.

Do you collect fashion?

TS: Yeah, definitely!

Do you sew?

TS: No, I’m not the best sewer. I tried to sew beads…

KJ: You were on a sewing machine yesterday!

TS: I was just trying to do something quick. Music is always my first love. Maybe I’ll dibble and dabble to put something together quick.

What was it like having access to an atelier like Dior’s?

TS: Working with such a big house, you’re able to make things you can’t do straight off the street. Being able to push some of the ideas and trying to make some of your imagination come to life, it’s kind of crazy.

How did you create the motifs we see on the tops?

TS: They’re imaginary things that kind of pop up in my head, and I draw them by hand. These [jumpers] are knitted by hand, which is so fucking nuts. It’s crazy.

What was it like working together?

KJ: It was very organic. Travis is straight up, and I don’t get hurt if someone doesn’t like something. It’s a job. You might get upset if someone doesn’t understand what you’re doing, but that’s a different thing.

You’ve included a collaboration on shirts with George Condo.

TS: We have three shirts we did with Condo. It’s not specifically for the collection, but for giving back.

KJ: They’re going to go to auction. We’re going to get them framed in Perspex boxes.

Whom will the auctions benefit?

KJ: Travis told me he was starting a foundation for kids to go to Parsons. If we do this with Dior, there’s such a voice around it. If I were going to college now, I wouldn’t be able to afford to do it. It’s so expensive, and in America it’s even more expensive. You come out with a hundred grand of debt before you’re even done.

This is something close to your heart.

KJ: Yeah, a lot of the young designers around me, I always help them out. I believe in it because of Lee McQueen, who didn’t financially help me but supported me. If I see someone good, I will quite happily give them cash to make their collection. Travis is a role model to a generation and it’s exciting to do something unexpected.

TS: I just feel like we need to use our money to help these kids.