Kim Jones is officially a knight. The British designer will be made chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur at an award ceremony held in Paris today, a little after his Autumn/Winter 2025 show for the house of Dior.
The Légion d’Honneur is France’s highest distinction, and can be also given to non-French citizens for actions that benefit the country. Jones has been artistic director of menswear at Dior since 2018, where he “moved menswear to a brilliantly lit place where a vision of classical cut, youth and modernity finally gelled”, as Vogue Runway’s Sarah Mower wrote in her review of his AW19 collection. Christian Dior Couture generated sales of €9.4 billion in 2023, according to HSBC estimates. A fraction of which is generated by menswear and men’s leather accessories; and that fraction, designed by Jones, is proving resilient in a difficult economic environment, according to analysts. “While womenswear saw buoyant growth followed by a contraction at Dior, menswear is less volatile and continues to be performing well,” says Mario Ortelli, managing partner of luxury advisory firm Ortelli Co.
Until October 2024, Jones also held the artistic director post for womenswear and couture at Fendi, where he worked since 2020. Before that, he was men’s artistic director for Louis Vuitton. The designer was also honoured an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2020.
A few days before the ceremony, he sat down with me to discuss his award, the future of menswear and some of the inspirations behind his design language.
Vogue: Congratulations on being made chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. How does it feel?
It’s good, isn’t it? It’s a big honour. I’ve been working in France for 15 years and for the biggest houses in the world, so it’s really lovely to be rewarded for it and recognised; this is a life milestone. I don’t think about things too much. I just get on with them. So when the letter came, I was quite surprised and I did have a cry because I wish my parents were alive to see things like this.
Vogue: You told The Guardian in 2019 — “I do my job because I love it, not because I want to be famous.”
Fame is not something that’s interesting to me. I think people get famous because of their work, but I try to keep myself as private and enjoy my life as much as possible. I like to walk down the street and do things. I get stopped by people and that’s always nice but generally I prefer being able to get on with my daily life. Though being rewarded for my work is a nice thing.
Vogue: How do you see the future of menswear?
It’s going in a different direction. I don’t want to say too much about what it is because I don’t want everyone else to know. But I’m looking at different things and I’m looking at different ways of tackling it — the reality of what people wear, what clothing means to people at the moment. I think fashion is quite in flux, in an unsettling moment, so you have to come up with something that’s quite sure. If you’re working for Dior, it’s got to be really about the couture aspects of Dior, all the finest qualities.
Vogue: You are often referred to as a pioneer of streetwear in luxury, because at Louis Vuitton, you engineered the blockbuster collaboration between Vuitton and Supreme in 2017.
We raised [streetwear] up to something that was very luxurious. That was 10 per cent of that collection. The rest of the collection was a sort of louche, expensive collection of beautiful fabrics like vicuña and cashmere and elegant knitwear, but a relaxed silhouette put into the context of very rich fabrications at Vuitton so that it provided an understanding of where it fitted. Vuitton is like pop art. If Vuitton as a brand was an artist, it’s Andy Warhol.
Vogue: Who is Dior then?
I’d say René Magritte because of the slightly surreal aspects of Dior’s interests.I just think the palettes and abstraction of Magritte are the interesting things for me.
Vogue: How does art inspire you?
I am always working with artists or looking at artists. I collect art and I work with different trusts for art. It’s something that I can always draw inspiration from. And for Dior, I just think it’s the correct thing to look at because Dior was a gallerist before he was a designer.
Vogue: What categories in fashion are you excited about right now?
I’m really into ready-to-wear at the moment because it’s just the core of what the house stands for.
Vogue: My colleague José Criales-Unzueta recently wrote how “menswear learnt to embrace the internet’s thirst”, noting that some houses now focus their efforts on the red carpet and skip men’s runways in favour of co-ed shows. What are your thoughts?
I think you can’t show the breadth of work on a red carpet. The red carpet, the actors are going where they want to, they don’t want to stand out too much, they just want to look good. Fashion shows are very different. I’m not mad on co-ed shows because I think the men’s way can sometimes get lost because womenswear is always going to be more out there.
Vogue: So men’s shows are still very relevant?
Definitely, and especially in Asia: men’s and women’s businesses there are very separate. Dior is treated like that, Vuitton’s treated like that, Hermès is treated like that — and they’re the big ones. You’re appealing to two very different customers.
Vogue: After all your achievements, what are your future hopes and goals?
I don’t know yet. I’ll see. I’m not a planner. I just go with the flow.
Vogue: You launched your namesake label in 2003 and had it until you were appointed creative director at Dunhill in 2008. Would you ever consider bringing it back?
If I did it, I’d do it in a very different way. It’d be a complete lifestyle. It wouldn’t be just clothing. I haven’t thought about it, but the things that people are really looking to spend money on is their home and travel.
Vogue: Do you still have your 18th century home in Sussex?
Yes I do, but it’s being renovated at the moment. It’ll be ready in April and then we’ll be spending time putting that back together and putting all the art and the furniture back in, which is very exciting. It’s been a long two-year restoration.
Vogue: So you feel strongly about the home category?
Home is where you are. Regardless of whether you rent or own, buying things for your house is always an investment in yourself.
Vogue: Women also wear your designs.
I have amazing women in my life and I’m very lucky to know them all. Someone like Demi [Moore], when she wears a suit she looks so super hot. We’ve known each other for a long time and it’s amazing to see how successful she’s become again and deserves to be.
Vogue: Do you wear your own designs?
I do wear bits and pieces, but I also wear other things because I kind of get desensitised if I keep wearing my own. And I don’t design for myself, I never have, because the customer base is too big and I have a very specific way of wearing clothes. I just wear things that I can work in. I have a few pieces that I really love and I keep an archive, but generally I’d rather see other people wear them.
That’s what inspires me, the reality of it. There is the fantasy of fashion and there’s the reality of fashion. But the reality is quite a big presence in the world at the moment, just because of how the world is. It’s in quite bad shape. I think people are really considering what they buy. We work very hard on the sustainable sides of what we do at Dior in terms of things like the projects with Parley [for the Oceans]. I am always aware of when I grew up, and I spent a lot of time in Africa and I saw this amazing wildlife and people. You want that to still be there. I always have that in my head when I work.
Vogue: What are the pieces that customers can’t get enough of at the moment?
The Icons collection sells incredibly well and that’s really made of the finest fabrics. It’s just really the things we want to wear.
Vogue: What is your advice for young designers?
Do what you do, don’t look at other designers, don’t get in debt, make what you can, be creative in how you show yourself. You don’t have to spend loads of money on an advertising campaign. If you can do something yourself, do it. Just keep to the scale that you feel comfortable with to keep going. It will take a bit of time I think, in the current economy, but if you are slow and steady and you have the talent, you’ll win the race.
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