The Kris Van Assche and Willy Vanderperre partnership continues to evolve.
For the 10th time, the creative director of Dior Homme has teamed with the New York-based photographer. This season, the collaboration is focusing in on four men.
In this seasons campaign, the Dior man metamorphoses into Dior men charismatic and distinctly individual, they playfully subvert the rules of masculine dress while at the same time upholding its traditions, Van Assche said.
This time around, the ads feature singer and lyricist Oliver Sim, actor Alain-Fabien Delon, artist Rinus Van de Velde and model Victor Nylander, who essentially play versions of themselves in the still images and accompanying film, Stranger in a Room. The film is named after a song of the same title by Jamie xx that also features the vocals of his xx bandmate, Sim.
Van Assche said the men were chosen because each character embraces qualities they are known for in their actual lives. We feel [they] embody something of the spirit of Dior Homme today. We wanted to create the idea of a Dior Homme world that has a dialogue with these men.
Vanderperre added that each man is respected for who he is as a person and in what they do; all of them have talents you would want to possess. At the same time, there is an easiness and elegance to all of them; they are very confident young men. We wanted other people to be invited into their worlds, too.
The featured song provided the musical structure for the film, according to the duo. Van Assche said that because Sim is singing on the track and appears in the film, it all felt quite complete and fitting. In the visuals we tried to get across the idea of a collection of contemporary artists garrets or a present day commune; a combination of the individual and the collective in a sense. There is an idea of isolated individuals and then a coming together as well individual worlds making one Dior Homme world.
Van Assche said the men are all dressed in pieces from the summer collection that feels in keeping with their individual characters something they might well wear themselves.
The film will be featured on a separate section of the Dior Web site beginning on Friday and the still images will be in a variety of print publications.
