With a celestial yet down-to-earth feel, the Dior 2023 men’s pre-fall collection garnered attention from students and faculty. 

The color palette, featuring muted colors and the occasional neon, impressed junior Julie Kilgore. 

“I like the color story actually,” Kilgore said. “I think the colors really give it, like, that high-fashion feel.” 

With a collection inspired by the 1984 film Dune, Dior artistic director Kim Jones felt compelled to mirror the movie’s desert setting by holding the show in Cairo alongside the Great Pyramids. As a result, sunglasses completed many of the models’ looks. 

“I like the sunglasses!” exclaimed Madelyn McSunas, a senior. “I feel like they add a lot to an outfit, especially since they’re in the desert.” 

Jones included galaxy print accent pieces as a nod to Christian Dior’s love for astrology. Staff and students, however, were left unimpressed by the motif. 

“I hate it because it looks so much like that 2016 Jansport backpack,” McSunas remarked. “And also, like, that material, it’s just – it looks cheap and there’s not much to it. I feel like it’s not very creative.” 

“I’m not there for the galaxy thing,” Kilgore seconded. “I hate that they messed it up with ‘Jansport galaxy backpack’. It looks tacky! It doesn’t look like Dior.” 

“They don’t fit in,” Ms. Larson noticed with curiosity rather than criticism. “I know that the galaxy ones were placed very intentionally. I’m just curious as to know why because they make such a statement.” 

The collection’s billowy silhouettes, inspired by the recent women’s collections, added to the show’s sci-fi themes. Upon seeing the pieces, Mrs. Marmorale immediately noted their androgynous feel. 

“I think the silhouettes are interesting. It makes you question the gender of who’s gonna wear it,” Marmorale said. “It’s interesting because we’re seeing a lot of that societally, like, the exploration of gender roles and what they have to do with how we dress ourselves. So I think it’s interesting to see a brand actually address that. I think it’s important.”  

The wearability of the designs stood out to students and faculty alike. 

“I like the graphic stuff because it adds more interest to the design,” McSunas said. “And it’s, like, fun to look at and I’d wear it myself honestly.” 

“I like that there’s a lot of single pieces that are usable and wearable because that’s really what fashion is about,” Marmorale explained. It’s what people are going to be able to use and wear.”