Luxury & Brands
Text by Shirin Mehta.
Dior’s artistic director of menswear, Kim Jones, in a leading-edge association with environmental organisation Parley for the Oceans, gave the fashion house a new direction towards a much more sustainable future, as seen through the Dior Men Fall 2022 Beachwear Capsule collection. Parley for the Oceans and its collaborative network are all about taking action against ocean threats with a strategy called Parley AIR: Avoid, Intercept, Redesign. Creating eco-innovative yarns and fabrics that include jacquard, mesh-knot, and technical canvas from upcycled plastic has been the focus of this joint research project. The French luxury fashion house’s ateliers surmounted the technical challenge of incorporating Parley’s alternative to virgin polyester — Parley Ocean Plastic® — into their couture material production processes. As Dior describes it: “Marrying desirability with sustainability, these highly singular materials — made ever-more sublime by a palette of blues and ochres — are adorned with iconic patterns, such as the Dior Oblique, timeless bayadères, as well as the Adriatic graphic motif, drawn from the house’s archives, showing up on a silky jacquard and chiné for a bewitching three-dimensional effect.”
Images courtesy: © Brett Lloyd
With this eco-aware collection that aims to preserve the beauty of the deep seas, Dior is building on the ties that it has always had with nature and the sea, beginning in founder Christian Dior’s well-known passion for flowers and gardens.
A couture collection from marine plastic waste is no longer a far-fetched dream:
Image courtesy: © Federico Torra
Kim Jones sought to use responsible materials created from upcycled marine plastic debris and fishing gear recovered from coastlines and remote islands around the world.
Image courtesy: © Federico Torra
A joint research project started in 2019 generated original yarns and materials engineered with Parley Ocean Plastic®, created by Parley and its global network.
Image courtesy: © Federico Torra
Dior’s artisans mastered the technique of dyeing each thread one at a time to overcome the challenges of dyeing the new materials.
Image courtesy: © Federico Torra
The dyed fibre undergoes a stringent visual assessment process.
Images courtesy: © Federico Torra
The artisans of Dior’s ateliers mastered the technical challenge of incorporating Parley’s upcycled alternative to virgin polyester into the house’s couture material production methods.
Image courtesy: © Sophie Carre
Bringing the couture edge to the eco-innovative fabric created in collaboration by Dior and Parley of the Oceans.
Image courtesy: © Sophie Carre
Sustainability meets fashion in these wearable symbols of change from the Dior Men Fall 2022 Beachwear Capsule.