Oh, Amoako

Discover the Dior men's Summer 2021 collection designed by Kim Jones in collaboration with Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo. Having spent his childhood in Africa, the formative source of his images of life, for the men’s Artistic Director this months-long exchange with the Ghanaian painter begun in 2019 represents the realization of a long-held dream of working with an African contemporary artist, a symbiotic creative relationship revealed in Act I - ‘Portrait of an Artist’, a film edited and soundtracked by Chris Cunningham, and Act II, directed by Jackie Nickerson.

With the pandemic breaking havoc, some fashion houses have found a way to promote their new collections by social distancing and by producing videos like this one. At the beginning I was like 'what kind of fresh colonialist hell is this?' and then I relaxed. Kim Jones, who has taken over Dior (the DREAMIEST of them all!) collaborated with a Ghanaian painter to bring these designs to fruition. And they're beautiful! 

Fashion houses show their collections months in advance and I, for one, am looking forward to seeing these designs next Summer, even if I will probably not buy anything new because the pandemic, natch. I have to confess that I have not bought a stitch of clothing since last December. It’ll be a year since I e been to any of my trusty stores. Why? Because I spend my days wearing comfy clothes and I only make sure I look 'professional' (read: not wearing anything tattered) from the waist up when I have a video conference. Underneath, it’s a been all shorts, or drawstring pants or shorts and socks. But of course that does not mean that I have stopped looking at pretty clothes. 

What called my attention was the idea of a contemporary painter inspiring a fashion designer. It’s something that we don’t see very often. Classical painters? Plenty. Contemporary? Not often. But Kim Jones grew up travelling, so him soaking up influences does not seem far fetched for me. I was weary it was going to reek of colonialism, because of course. Cultural appropriation and silencing of BIPOC voices is very, very common in fashion. Amoako Boafo, the artist that collaborated with Jones for this capsule, really lets us feel his influence. And that makes the clothes even more stylish, IMHO.  

 

Sometimes it is not easy to translate the intersection of painting and fashion, but I think these guys did a great job. I've loved what Kim Jones has done at Dior. I want ALL OF THE CLOTHES, but given that I'm on an extremely meager budget, I'll just choose a few pieces from this collection to dream about. Because that’s one of the duties of clothes. Yes, I just made that up.

I think the main thing is the colors and then the models. Thank goodness they did not dilute or whitewash the show. Beautiful men in beautiful clothes? Sign me up! Also, they reflect the artist’s point of view beautifully.

I love the use of pastels. They feel very nostalgic to me, like Miami Vice revamped. Also, I love pink. I'm very, very gay.

The first one is my all time fav. I would wear that in a heartbeat. I can see that Amoako used that theme in his paintings, too. I love the shorts!!!!!! Yes, yes, yes. Gimme. And I can extend any of those shorts into Fall and Spring because I wear them with leggings. And I love layering. Yes, I'm recursive. Yes, I've been known to cut off the bottom of leggings so I can wear them with Doc Martens. So sue me.

You can keep the sandals and socks, though. Too Freshman going to Ohio State in January for me. Ugh. I can’t. 

The long-over-short proportions and boots look. I would wear all of this this yesterday. No thinking. And the crossbody? Gimme. God I wish I had money so I could buy this shit.

And you, what would you have me wear from the collection? I'll be your Ken Doll for the day. Or in an ideal world (I know, I'm overly optimistic), what would YOU wear?  Go ahead. Indulge. You know you wanna...

XOXO