The British creative director of Dior menswear, Kim Jones, is a collector of rare books and literary memorabilia.
The book jacket of Jones’s early edition of Kerouac’s novel Visions of Cody, illustrated with two rugged James Dean lookalikes dressed for a road trip, came to life on the catwalk as models with gelled hair and spectacles wore checked shirts, sheepskin-collared trucker jackets and jeans cropped high above brogues and clashing socks.
“American sportswear is to me the basis of the modern men’s wardrobe,” said Jones at a preview of the show.
The dive into history was a departure for Jones, winner of designer of the year at last week’s Fashion Awards, who has energised high-end menswear by opening it up to the influence of “hypebeast” streetwear.
Kerouac was a contemporary of Christian Dior, who burst on to the Paris fashion scene after the second world war.
In 2021, he sees the anti-establishment spirit of Kerouac as chiming with how young people are questioning the identities and allegiances of their parents’ generation.
A selection of his personal library was displayed in a temporary exhibition staged for the night of the show, “because we have a lot of students coming from Saint Martins and I thought it would be nice for them to see how you come up with the idea for a collection”.
Jim Sampas, Kerouac’s nephew and the literary executor of his estate, consulted with Jones on the project.