DIOR HOMME

This time last year, Dior Homme designer Kris Van Assche showed a spring 2011 collection he called ‘Less is More.’ The title represents a central tenet of Van Assche’s aesthetic and one that he has been attempting to impart onto his Dior Homme collections since the first runway show in fall 2008.

Not all of Mr. Van Assche’s efforts for Dior Homme have been successful. Often there’s too much of an intellectual approach. One season ‘less’ meant unfinished jackets and coats with excess fabrics hanging from the shoulders. In another, the clothes felt overly clinical and lacked feeling–a necessary ingredient to sell designer clothes.

Mr. Van Assche has struggled to define the Dior Homme aesthetic. But by infusing his clothes with sportswear, or, in the case of last fall, military elements, Mr. Van Assche has evolved Dior Homme into a finely tailored collection dotted with elements of street wear.

Mr. Van Assche tried again with his ‘less is more’ ethos for spring 2013 and this time succeeded in cutting a lighter silhouette that looked right on the runway–and will look right on customers. A sleek, structured two button jacket (the buttons themselves bearing archival Dior logos from the early ’50s) with slim lapels hit just at the waist over slim pants.

This collection hit a balance between the tailored (see: suiting–strong shouldered, six button, double-breasted–and knee length two button coats, for example) and the sporty (see: cropped navy silk blousons, a black lamb leather shirt jacket, and embroidered sweaters). Mr. Van Assche kept things monochromatic in deep navy tones (with the obligatory nod to Dior light grey), a nod to a marine inspiration following fall’s army theme. And this time, he did not let things get too cold or too cerebral.