Kim Jones, new creative director for Alfred Dunhill

[Alejandro]

Kim Jones Creative Director, Alfred Dunhill

Alfred Dunhill is delighted to announce the appointment of Kim Jones as its Creative Director.

Kim will begin work with the British luxury brand from 1st March 2008 based in their world headquarters in London - and will oversee product design and development across the emporium with particular emphasis on leather and menswear.

Awarded the British Menswear Designer of the Year accolade in 2006, Kim has acted as a designer, creative director, fashion editor and stylist for some of the most influential and inspirational brands in the world including Alexander McQueen, Mulberry, Hugo Boss, Umbro, Louis Vuitton, New York Times T Style Magazine, Arena Homme +, V Magazine, POP, Dazed & Confused and i-D magazine as well presenting his eponymous menswear label.

A St Martin’s graduate, Kim is held in the highest esteem by peers and press alike.

Kim Jones at dunhill is thrilling news for British menswear our freshest talent has been given the keys to our most venerable house
Charlie Porter, Associate Editor, British GQ

It is really exciting that there is a new focus at dunhill. It is really brave and knowing to have gone with Kim Jones as Creative Director. As a house that was always about modernity and leisure, he really seems the right person to revive those dunhill concepts for the mens world today

Jo-Ann Furniss, Editor-in-chief, Arena Homme+

This is a new era for dunhill. Kim Jones has the talent and vibrancy to steer the prestigious brand to a new heights. It is an exciting collaboration and one which I am certainly expectingfantastic results

Nicola Formichetti, Fashion Director, Dazed & Confused.

Christopher Colfer, CEO of Alfred Dunhill, commented: We are all very excited to be working with Kim and experiencing the energy that his creative vision and talent will inject into the Alfred Dunhill brand. His appointment comes at a time that is already proving to be significant for Alfred Dunhill with the global opening of the Homes of Alfred Dunhill in Tokyo, London and Shanghai.

Kim Jones commented: For me this is a great opportunity to bring home the message I have constantly projected of London as the menswear capital of the world. For me dunhill is perfect as Alfred was a true modernist, something I have long admired, and it is a privilege to work with an English luxury goods house specialising in menswear. I am looking forward to putting all my energy into this role.

myspace.com

 

[Scott]

well,that's an interesting choice. i don't really think kim jones when i think of a vein of luxury. at least in terms of dunhill style. a little rough around the edges he is. could be good though.

 

[bluespring]

this will be very interesting

 

[JJohnson]

yay go Kim!!!

 

[Bidwell]

Talk about sleeping giants....imagine the money behind it all.

Sounds fantastic and look forward to seeing the results.

The most beautiful coat I have ever tried on was a Dunhill double breasted, double faced chocolate nappa leather frock coat. I still regret not having "invested" in it. Pure heirloom material.

 

[JuiceMajor]

Hope he will bring a much younger feel to the house!

 

[BerlinRocks]

wow, that's pretty interesting.....
(didn't read the all article..........)

well,that's an interesting choice. i don't really think kim jones when i think of a vein of luxury. at least in terms of dunhill style. a little rough around the edges he is. could be good though.

pretty the same here....
i would never thought about Kim Jones for Dunhill....

who's responsible of this choice?? Do you think Nicola Formichetti?

 

[Scott]

right,they do work together quite often.

 

[vanwood]

amazing good decision!!!

 

[schmoses]

well,that's an interesting choice. i don't really think kim jones when i think of a vein of luxury. at least in terms of dunhill style. a little rough around the edges he is. could be good though.

isolate the phrase "vein of luxury"

veins are a stringy sinewy sort. there are multiple veins within the body. there are multiple brands of luxury. the goyard versus vuitton, dior joallerie versus chrome hearts, etc. categorization under the term luxury doesn't leave much wiggle room, but once deemed luxurious enough to fall under the banner, more times than not it's there to stay.

that being said kim jones comes from menswear, itself a term wrought with tenets, tropes, daguerrotypes of well worn stereotypes. over a five year period kim jones has made proposals of a fresh interpretation of menswear; offering up items a bit more of the now than the blazer, shirt, trouser which the mainstream man sees daily. those familiar with his fabric research, manipulation, whimsy and ultimate output will more times than not attest to the sheer modernity, wearability and comfort of most jones pieces.

if kim jones can attempt to offer something a little different to menswear, why can't the same open mindedness be extended to him where a luxury brand is concerned?

johan rupert, owner of richemont, thereby owner of dunhill thought so. which is why he, not mr formichetti, appointed mr jones creative director of a house that isn't, to the closed mind's eye, something kim jones should be affiliated with.

how many of us here at tfs respect the work of helmut lang....pre habitual?

was it not considered luxurious all while maintaining it's edge of sheik, semi-subversive modernity?

melanie ward believed in helmut lang as she today believes in the talents of kim jones to offer an interesting take on luxury. which is why she is on his design team.

alasdair mclellan? super photographer alasdair mclellan? he's on board as well.

instead of speculations as to how he attained such an alleged odd post, why don't some of us apply our most positive visage and wish the man well.....or at least until his first offerings come to the forefront.

scott, i do love your energy for most things vill-helm and boo-di-kuh. i am also accutely aware of your somewhat distaste for my bud's, mr jones, works. i urge gently for you to just give this endeavour a chance to earn your pleasure.....or derision.

 

[softgrey]

i knew he couldn't have been making much money with his own label...
this proves it..

i dont' know...
dunhill screams classic to me and kim jones screams 'soccer' gear...
...

this is kinda weird imo...

...

 

[Scott]

schmoses...i never actually said anything of displeasure just that i think the marriage seems a bit strange given kim's aesthetics. just that when one thinks dunhill luxury,they don't immediately correlate that with kim jones. as i said,it could be good.

 

[schmoses]

great point taken, scott but that's what's grand about fashion. the fact a paradigm can be shattered. it's a very exciting time-the jones/ward/mcclellan connection.

softgrey? "soccer" gear????? not to be an **** but how blockheaded is that statement? he modernized umbro eons ago.
you too have made accurate points for many moons on tFs. it's a shock that you could make such fragmented, shortsighted statement.

 

[albertli1984]

wwd.com

Kim Jones Joins Dunhill
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
By Lucie Greene

LONDON — Kim Jones, the British men's wear designer, has been named creative director of Dunhill, and will give up his own label to focus on the brand.





He will give up his own label, so disappointed to hear it.

 

[softgrey]

great point taken, scott but that's what's grand about fashion. the fact a paradigm can be shattered. it's a very exciting time-the jones/ward/mcclellan connection.

softgrey? "soccer" gear????? not to be an **** but how blockheaded is that statement? he modernized umbro eons ago.
you too have made accurate points for many moons on tFs. it's a shock that you could make such fragmented, shortsighted statement.

hey....what is with the venom dear..
that is what i associate him with...period..
and believe you me...i am not the only one...

* that may very well be why his label didn't do so well and he is closing it now...

 

[vanwood]

hey....what is with the venom dear..
that is what i associate him with...period..
and believe you me...i am not the only one...

* that may very well be why his label didn't do so well and he is closing it now...

softgrey, you have no idea what you are talking about, his brand was doing well.

 

[Grill]

I think closing his own brand relates to the fact that the vast body of his work is consulting and styling for other brands, magazines rather than simply working on the Kim Jones label. He would be really overworking himself if he kept working on his own brand label, did the consulting stuff and Dunhill too.

Personally, I don't think he has closed his label (which could possibly be just a rumour?) because it wasn't doing well. It was because he personally wants to go further than it alone could take him - he is very "business" focused unlike a lot of creatives.

 

[telepathicgoat]

schmoses...i never actually said anything of displeasure just that i think the marriage seems a bit strange given kim's aesthetics. just that when one thinks dunhill luxury,they don't immediately correlate that with kim jones. as i said,it could be good.

I totally agree.
And to be honest, without Nicola's help, Kim would have stayed unemployed.
(LO VE RS)

But maybe it can produce something interesting.

 

[softgrey]

softgrey, you have no idea what you are talking about, his brand was doing well.

in my experience...
one does not close a profitable company...
it's usually a very difficult and painful decision for a designer to do so...
especially after putting so much time and effort into building a brand...
these are usually financial decisions they are forced to make...


that said...
i am only speculating...
that's true...


grill..it's not a rumour....it was in wwd...

 

[Mer Barcelona]

interesting...