Dior Just Launched a Splashy New Menswear Collection in Miami Featuring Artwork by Legendary Streetwear Designer Shawn Stussy

In the early 1980s, a young
artist named Shawn Stussy began making beautifully designed
surfboards on which he scrawled his name using a fat black
marker. 

His brightly colored boards,
covered in his aggressive, graphic black lettering, quickly became
popular, formalizing the aesthetic of cool, California surf
culture. With the success of the boards, Stussy went on to design
clothes featuring that same signature, which he sold first from the
trunk of his car in Laguna Beach, and later at trade
shows.

Before long, it seemed like
everyone was wearing his caps, t-shirts, and shorts—and the craze
was only just beginning.

His company expanded to Europe,
and then to New York, where he opened a boutique in SoHo. By the
mid-1990’s, the company was racking up $20 million annually from
its cult following of loyal young fans who shared in Stussy’s love
for art, hip-hop, and big-city life. One of those fans was Kim
Jones, now the creative director of Dior Men.

At a building owned by Don and
Mera Rubell in Miami yesterday, Jones presented his pre-Fall 2020
collection, which featured a collaboration with none other than
Stussy, Jones’s childhood hero, whose work he had been collecting
since he was 14 years old. 

“I don’t choose people just
because they’re famous,” Jones told Vogue after his Miami show. “When something becomes
as iconic as [Stussy’s work], it’s in the culture and the culture
is what I’m interested in.” 

Jones has invested much of his energy into steering
the Parisian heritage house in
a new direction. For every new collection he has designed since
taking the helm, he has tapped a new artist. In 2019 alone, he has collaborated
with KAWS, Raymond Pettibon, and
Japanese sculptor Hajime Sorayama to
create buzzworthy collections that inject Dior’s menswear line with
an unexpected, design-forward energy. In the process, he has also illuminated his
marketing prowess and genuine love for art.

The new collection features
Stüssy’s signature lettering, with wavy prints of palm trees, local
Miami flora, and washes of neon color. Stussy also reimagined the
brand’s logo as a sort of ode to his retro, California-cool
beginnings.

For those familiar with Dior,
which has historically snubbed trend-driven fashion, including
streetwear, this comes as a surprising move—and an indicator that
Jones is unafraid to push the envelope and do things differently
than his predecessors, while still tapping into tradition.
(Christian Dior himself began his career as an art dealer before
venturing into fashion design.)

“The house has always cultivated a passionate relationship with
art, and this fascination is at the heart of Dior’s inventiveness
now more than ever,” the brand said in a statement.

The post Dior Just Launched a Splashy New Menswear Collection in
Miami Featuring Artwork by Legendary Streetwear Designer Shawn
Stussy appeared first on artnet News.