Like a glorious pillar of light the central white monument of Kris Van Assche’s Dior Homme show for Spring Summer 2011 stood alone in the cavernous expanse of the Halle Freyssinet yesterday, beckoning guests from afar with a totemic gravity. After iced tea and pleasantries, all were seated around it’s perimeter and the plastic shields rolled away from the freshly painted runway.

The models began their walk from inside the cylindrical frame as faint silhouettes against the fabric, emerging one by one into the blinding white arena. Returning to the key motifs of the past two seasons, Kris updated the robed coats and sleeveless tunics of his recent oeuvre into light, flowing fabrics that draped and cut away from the body. Again dressed in a pure palette of black, white, icy grey and beige the Dior Homme man truly transcended geography -with Kris’s influence of North African robes equally as evident as the traditions of Dior tailoring, and the predominantly South American casting now scattered with Eurasian blood.

Entitled “Lessness”, the collection spoke little of the tricky technique and embellishment that has marked Kris’ earlier work – it spoke a more simple poetry of motion and emotion. Patch-pockets and epaulettes were a common thread through gilets and trenches – rendered in suede, heavy cotton and fine wools. Outerwear hung long and loose, squaring off a strong shoulder, often with contrast piping that floated inside linings or highlighted collars and lapels. A knit cummerbund was slung around the hips of several looks, splitting the silhouette with a casual, luxe formality. And the shoes held their own lightness, with a trompe l’oeil effect hiding a canvas boot caged (like a sock) under a laced gladiator sandal.

Kris Van Assche has set a new benchmark of late, with his razor sharp execution and emotional minimalism igniting a sophisticated new ideology at Dior. This season proves a steady evolution, one that has potential to rise much further – for a new romance that bridges classic French codes and Belgian darkness with the savoir-faire of a world traveller.