French fashion house Dior has announced it will show its Fall 2022 menswear collection in London this December. While this will not be the brand’s first time hosting a runway show in the UK – it most recently showed a womenswear Cruise collection at Blenheim Palace in 2016 – it will be the first time in its 74-year history that Dior has debuted a men’s collection in the capital.

The show is scheduled to take place on 9 December and, while the brand has not confirmed an exact location, it said in a statement that the show aims to begin ‘a new chapter in its historic friendship with the UK’. Having traditionally held shows in its hometown of Paris, Dior first presented a collection in the UK in 1947, with both the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret in attendance.

The Fall 2022 show will also mark a homecoming for Dior menswear creative director Kim Jones, who joined the house in 2018 after stints at Louis Vuitton and Dunhill. A London native, Jones studied at Central Saint Martins and presented collections at London Fashion Week as part of the Fashion East collective early in his career, but has not shown in London since 2003.

A three-time Menswear Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards, Jones was given an OBE in the 2020 Birthday Honours list for services to fashion, and retains strong roots in the capital. Well-known for his collaborations, which have included partnerships with artists KAWS, Daniel Arsham and Amoako Baofo, as well as musician Travis Scott and designers Shawn Stussy and Raymond Pettibon, another highly covetable collection is to be expected for the AW22 season. “I can’t wait to do a show in my hometown,” Jones commented.

“I am delighted to be presenting our Fall men’s collection abroad once again,” added Pietro Bacari, Christian Dior Couture CEO, “and to be reconnecting with the ‘physical’ runway, an experience that is more important than ever.

“We are proud and excited to be bringing this unique event to life in London, a particularly symbolic destination dear to Monsieur Dior and the House since 1947. London is of course also the city closest to Kim Jones’ heart, where he was born and where he lives, which inspires him with its inexhaustible creativity and which he loves deeply.”

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