Dior launches Men’s A/W21 collection in collaboration with Kenny Scharf

KIM Jones has unveiled a deliriously joyful campaign for Dior’s Men’s Autumn/Winter 2021 collection. Bubbling with acid hues and fluid lines, the collection was formed in collaboration with American painter and installation artist, Kenny Scharf.

The collection expresses the feral energy and hypnotic feeling that soaks Scharf’s work, utilising his emblematic paintings as a backdrop for the collection, captured in a series of spirited images by photographer Rafael Pavarotti.

Dior Mens Autumn Campaign

Dior’s Men’s Autumn/Winter 2021 collection

Dior Mens Autumn/Winter Campaign 6

Dior’s Men’s Autumn/Winter 2021 collection

Kenny Scharf was a fundamental figure in the burgeoning art scene in The East Village during the 1980s, creating explosive, lurid pieces of art depicting cartoonish characters, pinched from the expanse of his own universe. Scharf’s impressive résumé includes working alongside fellow artists, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, with mentoring by Andy Warhol.

Now he joins a long list of artists Kim Jones has successfully collaborated with, designing a collection that is a perfect symphony of luxury and refined streetwear.

Dior Mens Autumn/Winter Campaign

Dior’s Men’s Autumn/Winter 2021 collection

Dior Mens Autumn/Winter Campaign

Dior’s Men’s Autumn/Winter 2021 collection

The collection translates Scharf’s aquatic artwork – Viva Mare Viva Mar – onto overcoats, silk shirts and straight leg trousers. Paired with silky two-piece suits, a leather jacket and belted coats, a solitary Scharf creature can be seen emblazoned along the waist of suit jackets.

Dior Mens Autumn/Winter Campaign

Dior’s Men’s Autumn/Winter 2021 collection

Dior Mens Autumn/Winter Campaign

Dior’s Men’s Autumn/Winter 2021 collection

For accessories, the Dior cross-body Saddle bag is embellished with Scharf’s fluorescent art, reinterpreted in precious seed stitch embroideries and the Safari messenger bag is stitched with the signature Dior Oblique jacquard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtEqR-PQarQ

 

by Sophia Ford-Palmer