For the 7th installment of The Early Days series, we present the dual roles of Kris Van Assche, as a designer in his own right for his eponymous label, and as the creative director at Dior Homme.

Kris was invited to curate A#7 at a pivotal time in his career, as he took the helm of Dior Homme in 2007. Having taken this significant role, he chose to interpret and realise the masculine vision of the house of Dior – with all it’s tradition, codes and signatures – as well as continuing to develop his own label. It is inevitable that the two cross aesthetic paths at times, but it is the ability to uphold the two separate worlds simultaneously that warrants merit.

For Kris’s first solo collection for Fall Winter 2005, he explored the concept of the three-piece suit, and how it could fit with a more relaxed mens wardrobe – teaming his artfully-panelled suits with sneakers and casual checked shirts. With the theme of a ‘working man’, Kris adapted the traditional formality of a suit to a modern setting, and for the finale sent out rather unconventional models to demonstrate this – with three 50+ gentlemen wearing his designs.

In his Dior Homme debut for Spring Summer 2008, this relaxed vibe was not so evident in the garments – rather in the intimate salon setting that he chose to show his first capsule for the house. The showing consisted of a small press presentation in Paris, with models posing in crisp formal looks beneath crystal chandeliers. The collection was a study in the basics and fundamentals that underpin the house, with Kris’s eye for detail and construction showcased in white shirting, voluminous pleated trousers and sombre, slim suiting.

It wasn’t until a season after that Kris truly flexed his creative muscle at Dior, having a full time frame to realise the Fall Winter 08-09 collection. This first runway collection was a poetically dark affair – with a sheen and lustre to both formal and sportswear pieces, rendering them instantly luxurious. Butterfly accessories were worn as bowties and pinned across suit jackets, and the pleated trousers of the season before returned in both satin and leather variations. Models seemed vampiric with their gelled flat hair and ghostly white makeup, descending upon the crowd in a dramatic finale of white dinner shirts.

Although not as far in the distant past as some of our other curators first shows, it is still an insightful study to place Kris’s work in a temporal context, to see the progress of his vision for both labels, from the beginning to his latest work for Fall Winter 2010. Always playing classics with an edgy twist, he continues to define a wardrobe for an assuredly masculine, modern gentleman.

Above: Dior Homme Spring Summer 2008 presentation, photographed by Gaëtan Bernard.

Above: Dior Homme by Kris Van Assche Fall Winter 2008-2009 photographed by Patrice Stable.

All images courtesy of Dior Homme & Kris Van Assche. Rights reserved.

Throughout our exploration of A#7 we have seen many facets of Kris Van Assche’s creativity – through the runway, the produced photoshoot, holiday photography, inspiration walls and other artworks. Today we look once again behind closed doors, as Gaëtan Bernard captures Kris and his chosen models as they work on the garment fittings for the Dior Homme Fall Winter 2008 collection in Paris.

Intimately cropped and cut, with crisp shadows and the fresh faced Hernan and Gabriel sans makeup, these pictures evoke an expectant mood, as Kris studies the looks and individual pieces with scrutiny. It transcends the documentary mode, becoming in itself a very cohesive series of portraits. Gaëtan’s eye reaches towards the human subjects, faces that would otherwise serve little purpose in fittings – as traditionally the models function as blank canvases, mere physical bodies upon which to hang clothes.

“My close friend and gallery owner Barbara Polla was a great help…  I have to say this project was a very personal one.” – Kris Van Assche, December 2009.

The creation of A#7 was a very personal journey for Kris Van Assche, a project he shared with close friends and like-minded artists and creatives. Today we present the third in a series of contributions to A BLOG written by Barbara Polla, a gallerist and author who travels alongside Kris in discovering new and beautiful ways of seeing art and the wider world. Our thanks again to Barbara for her willing and harmonious contributions to our story.

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Kris Van Assche has a hummingbird drawn on his arm. Once we were visiting together Jeremy Deller’s show at the Palais de Tokyo (http://www.palaisdetokyo.com/deller/index.html<http://www.palaisdetokyo.com/deller/index.html>  ) and talking… and Kris inspired by what we were looking at explained me that art requires freedom – without freedom you can’t see art – it’s like the hummingbird, the bird has to be free to nurture himself in the heart of flowers, told Kris pointing to his tatoo. It is this very moment, this association of thoughts and images that gave birth toPicaflor (hummingbird in the language spoken in Buenos Aires, one of Kris Van Assche’s city of the world.) Picaflor ? The word itself sounds like a thorn, like a difficulty. The difficulty to getting closer and closer to beauty in our everyday life, a difficulty that requires constant efforts, attention, and humility. We must dare to choose freedom: the hard way but the only one to nurture our soul.

The bird is also a symbol of freedom, freedom of the soul liberating itself from the body, a symbol for transfiguration for the Egyptians, or, according to Freud, an analogy for erection – unless being caged. From childhood with caged birds (as drawn by the Andrea Mastrovito, in the context of a long lasting artistic friendship) to the hummingbird on Kris’ arm, free to fly away any time, a continuous search for freedom and meaning.

After Hyères, last spring, this winter, starting January 26, 2010, you will find, in the the Galeries des Galeries, the gorgeous showroom of the Galeries Lafayette in Paris, as in a wild urban meadow, a dozen flowers, perched on stalks like orchestra tripods, like waders – geometrical flowers, warrior flowers, robot flowers, made out of mirrors in which you can see the reflection of the outside world. And in the heart of the corolla of these mysterious flowers, you will discover the virtual and sensorial images, sounds and smells that nurture Kris Van Assche’s inspirations.

Kris Van Assche’s ability to constantly renew his inspirations and creations translates into the presentation of a “second type” Picaflor : same essence, new inspirations, novel images, ongoing creation…

To see Barbara’s gallery please click here.

A BLOG curated by welcomes the second in a series of contributions by Analix Forever gallerist and author Barbara Polla, a close collaborator with A#7′s curator, Kris Van Assche. Thanks again to Barbara for her inspired words.

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Kris Van Assche is a stylist and an artist. At first sight, a very fashionable position : many stylists, at one point or another of their career, develop an artistic production. Many of them become photographers, others produce objects that are, in some way or another, an artistic representation of their creative word as a whole – such as Walter Van Beirendonck for example. (http://www.paris-art.com/marche-art/2357/Van%20Beirendonck-Walter/2995.html )

There is though something very special about Kris Van Assche as an artist – I won’t talk about his installations, just show them, Poet on Strike, at Analix Forever in May of 2009 – no, that specific KVA touch is the presence with him, or his presence with, other artists. One could nearly think of Kris Van Assche as a gallerist, or a prince, the type of those who invite artists to show their work for delight, for beauty and for joy, as they are aware that life without art is just not the kind of life they feel worthwhile.

About one year ago, Kris Van Assche invited Andrea Mastrovito to invade the Dior Homme boutique at Rue Royale in Paris. Freedom for the artist is the secret. Not only did Mastrovito invent a very special world for the boutique, but the two men became close friends and continue to work together. They are born the same day and showed at Analix Forever the day after their birthdays this last May : a mural sculpture for Mastrovito, and Poet on Strike for Kris Van Assche.

At Hyères, in April, where Kris Van Assche, as President of the Jury, was invited to present another installation, Picaflor, he again favored the possibility to share the space with another artist, David Casini – who presented a performance entitled This thought crossed my mind – rather than use it all for himself. Artistic collaborations nurture him – and he nurtures the artists. Kris Van Assche and David Casini : encounter of the third type between artist and designer, in the “far away interior” of a fifth dimension in which even time gets lost.

The story continues… and beginning January 26, Kris Van Assche will present his next exhibition at the Galerie des Galeries in Paris along with the American artist Matt Saunders ( http://www.lesitedelevenementiel.com/kris-van-assche-sexpose-avec-picaflor-aux-galeries-lafayette/). Free and dedicated to both art and fashion, in distinct though aesthetically parallel paths, Kris Van Assche is a stylist among the stylists, and an artist among the artists.

The following post is a contribution to A BLOG by Barbara Polla, author and gallery curator of Analix Forever in Geneva, Switzerland. Barbara’s ongoing friendship and professional relationship with Kris Van Assche has seen her contribute to A#7 and work with Kris on many subsequent projects. We would like to thank Barbara for her wholehearted support in our online project.

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Kris Van Assche, The Renaissance Face by Barbara Polla

The portrait has always occupied a central place in art, through the whole history of humanity. The French philosopher Levinas has extensively elaborated on the fact that the face is pure signification and refuses itself to possession. According to Levinas, the face both appeals crime and forbids killing ; it simultaneously reveals human beings’ vulnerability and triggers their own responsibility towards their peers.

In contrast to art, fashion often tends to dissimulate the face, to replace its epiphany by stereotypes, by clones of what « beauty » should be and to replace individuals by « mannekins » (ie, smaller versions of man). Impossible to recall one single face after most défilés… unless they are « people » that you will find the day after on the cover of all magazines. This absence of the face is sometimes radicalized to its extreme by designers who hide it completely and sometimes it is just cut off (http://www.tendances-de-mode.com/defiles ). After all, fashion is about clothes – so who cares about the face ?

Some care. Kris Van Assche for example : his objective is not (only) to make beautiful clothes : it is to render individuals more beautiful. « Individuals » though have faces, individual ones… Among the many innovations Kris Van Assche is bringing into the fashion scene, the Renaissance of the Face is an fundamental one. Simple though genius intuitions : in order to enhance beauty, I need to enhance freedom – in order to reveal beauty, I need to reveal singularity. The singularity is hidden in each individual face.

For Kris Van Assche, Renaissance of the Face also includes collaborations with other artists, such as the Berlin-based American artist Matt Saunders, who recently realized « 22 portraits for Kris Van Assche ». To be seen in the next issue of Londerzeel, the magazine created by Kris Van Assche.
The Renaissance of the Face, and art is back in fashion !

A#7 curator Kris Van Assche muses on the topic of collaboration, with particular reference to Londerzeel, the experimental zine the designer has founded with friend, gallerist Barbara Polla. This feature was orignally published in AnOther Man issue 9, Autumn/Winter 2009.

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In his collaboration with artists, Dior Homme’s artistic director Kris Van Assche has found inspiration for his collections and the material for Londerzeel, a beautifully printed, open-ended experimental zine. The project, the result of the deep bond and mutual respect between Van Assche and gallerist Barbara Polla, presents the work of many artists and photographers that have informed his recent designs.

“Collaboration is vital, essential for me. It is truly stimultating to collaborate with artists from all horizons – Wim Mertens’s music, Jeff Burton’s or Nan Goldin’s photographs, Zoe Cassavete’s films. My collections grow richer from each experience, because my vision becomes wider, more generous. I met Barbara Polla when she was invited by a mutual friend to the second Kris Van Assche show. Afterwards, she came to see me backstage and talked to me straight away about a project. She’s unique and in a class of her own. Her freedom to be herself is outstanding – her whole life is organised around her wishes. She makes her dreams come true through persistance and unshakeable willpower. She is radiant and holds a special place in the heart of contemporary artists – she’s not your typical gallery owner, she’s very close to her artists and very kind. Only Barbara knows how to combine rigour and outrageousness in order to create something new, whether it be an exhibition, a cosmetics line or a magazine. I was surprised when she told me she wanted to write a book about me. It has been a strange experience and in fact I’m still not entirely sure I’m at ease with there being a book about me!

It was at Barbara’s gallery Analix Forever that I met collaborator Andrea Mastrovito. I was immediately drawn in by the delicacy and expressiveness of his drawings, as well as their poetry. His world is exuberant and passionate – I’m touched by the work he has done for me; he’s the greatest poet I’ve ever had the opportunity to meet. And even though fundamentally we’re incredibly different, we have a strong connection between us. Two of my favourite images of his in Londerzeel follow each other, involving Andrea tearing a botanical encyclopaedia in order to ‘replant’ flowers. It’s an idea that meets with my world and my clothes.

Londerzeel is named after the town I come from. The town’s banality made me feel different at such a young age. It’s an ordinary place, neither beautiful or ugly, with people passionate about football and full of goodwill. I can’t say I led a fulfilling life there as a teenager, but it is the place where the people I love live. The zine is a project with complete freedom – I’m the artistic director and Barbara is the managing editor. In Londerzeel I wanted to collect projects that were not related to fashion. It is a way for me to tell the same story, to convey the same aesthetics but using other means, other mediums. We are working on a follow-up but we won’t set ourselves a deadline – when we have something to tell there will be another issue.”

Interview Dean Mayo Davies

www.krisvanassche.com

www.analix-forever.com

For A#7, Kris Van Assche has called upon a pool of talent from across the world to envision his first publication. Through young and old - from the fashion, artistic and even pornographic worlds - the list of contributors is far from a cloistered Parisian set, which one may assume the designer of Dior Homme may call upon to direct their aesthetic. One of the few French contributors to Kris’s magazine is photographer Gaëtan Bernard, who offers an intimate backstage view of Kris’s studio and shows at both his own label and Dior Homme. Gaëtan shoots often in black and white, favouring movement and a theatrical balance of light and shadow to create filmic, emotional moments.

In these images, Gaëtan captures the mateship and light-hearted fun between the models at Kris’s show in January of 2008, as they ‘rumble’ backstage before the show. All hailing from Argentina and Brazil, one can only imagine the raucous Spanish and Portuguese calls that would have echoed around the room, as the handsome young imports began the adrenalin-pumping preparations for show time.

Keep reading as we showcase more of Gaëtan’s work in the coming weeks, as he us further exclusive content from his work with Kris Van Assche and the house of Dior.