Reinterpreting Dior’s classic cannage motif
There’s no official handbook for the fashion designer who suddenly finds themselves at the helm of a revered French haute couture house, and who must now navigate the tricky task of preserving its traditions while driving it into the future. Where some might opt to play safe, and others appear to abandon the founder’s vision almost entirely in favour of what feels most cutting-edge, Mr Kim Jones is one creative director who seems to have struck upon the perfect formula, creating menswear for Dior that’s covetable and undeniably contemporary yet always with an eye to the maison’s archives.
With his SS24 Dior Men’s collection, Jones has breathed new life into cannage. Derived from the French for ‘lattice’, the criss-cross style of stitching dates back to Dior’s founding in 1947 and has since become one of the house’s most enduring motifs. As the story goes, Christian Dior, a keen decorator, initially took inspiration from the Napoleon III cane chairs of his couture salon at 30 Avenue Montaigne and reimagined their woven intricacy in his creations. Decades later, in cannage’s most memorable outing, Gianfranco Ferré’s Dior stitched the motif into a boxy leather handbag that would eventually be christened the ‘Lady Dior’ in honour of its most famous wearer: Diana, Princess of Wales.
For Jones’ modern man, cannage takes countless forms: embroidered into richly textured coats and relaxed tailoring cut from boucle wool in navy blues and the house’s signature greys; graphically printed across cashmere-wool jacquard knits and cardigans. Chunky-soled Buffalo loafers are cast in quilted-leather and elevated in cannage cotton tweed.
Cannage tweeds also lend dimension and texture to the Dior Saddle Twin – a more compact version of the equestrian-inspired design first introduced under Galliano and later revived by Jones – while the Dior Charm (pictured), a newly unveiled satchel style, features laser-cut leather that evokes the Lady Dior. At its most inventive, cannage is reimagined in intricate 3D-print across rectangular-frame sunglasses in shades of grey, khaki and neon green.
But more than a mere nod to the house’s past, the SS24 collection is underpinned by clothes-making techniques that Dior has devoted decades to honing – elsewhere leather jackets and pinstriped shirts are hand-embroidered with jewel-like beading inspired by the founder’s cabochons. In an age where luxury fashion can at times feel removed from the craftmanship and quality that once defined it, Kim Jones’ Dior ensure the petites mains who prop up its atelier are as valued as they ever were.
