THE LITERARY INCARNATION

In the Dior Men Autumn 2022 show, Kim Jones presented two key offerings, namely a leather jacket with hand-painted illustration from Jack Kerouac’s novel as well as the Dior Carlo derby shoe – which express the profound relationship of fashion, literature and art.

- John Ng

Taking cues from the works of Jack Kerouac, who was famed for his rhythmic and spontaneous writings, artistic direction of menswear Kim Jones honoured the poet and author in his Dior Men Autumn 2022 collection by erecting a 36-metre-long runway-sized scroll with text from one of Kerouac’s defining novels of the Beat Generation called On The Road.

And here comes the background: “In his late teens, Kerouac attended Columbia University on football scholarship, but after a freshman-year injury, he decided to abandon the sport in his sophomore, and, eventually, his studies. Thus began a life of flouting rules and conventions, during which his passion and talent for writing flourished. Upon the 1957 publication of his second novel, On The Road Kerouac made his mark on the world of literature with the sui-generis rhythm of his ‘spontaneous prose.’