It’s a no-brainer that Men’s Fashion Week is a pivotal time to be paying attention to as the innovation in menswear continues to break barriers. For Creative Director Kim Jones’ latest runway presentation on the Dior Men Winter 24 collection, we witness the emergence of ballet flats as a staple for men. And while Jones isn’t the first menswear designer to feature these shoe silhouettes in his shows as of late, he has worked to cement the trend in the men’s fashion zeitgeist for fall/winter 2024.

Directed by Baillie Walsh and set to the poignant music of composer Max Richter, the show was titled “Nureyev”. The presentation was deeply inspired by Jones’ late uncle Colin Jones, a talented ballet dancer throughout the 1950s who evolved into a proficient photojournalist and his relationship with Rudolf Nureyev, the renowned Soviet-born ballet dancer. 

Here, Jones and the House’s histories intertwine: “I had been thinking about the relationship between the ballet dancer Margot Fonteyn and Monsieur Dior,” said Jones. “The masculine interpretation of this also involved thinking about her most famous dance partner: Rudolf Nureyev. Nureyev is entwined with my personal history because of my uncle, the photographer Colin Jones.”

Using these figures and photos as inspiration, Jones had his own stage to bring their story to the fore via the savoir-faire of Dior. “The collection, or rather collections, are about contrast: the contrasts in the house of Dior in terms of ready-to-wear and haute couture. it’s the difference between onstage and backstage; the life of Nureyev theatrically and in reality. here it is a meeting of the dancer’s style with that of the Dior archive,” Jones continued.

The House’s show in Paris recently was at once poetic and functional: gracefully-tailored suits, elegant crystalline details, slouching berets, sheer, high-necked blouses and masculine shorts were all key pieces on the show, evoking the spirit of Nureyev and paying homage to the art of ballet. 

Ballet motifs are introduced throughout the collection in the form of ballet flats, which were shown in a swathe of different colourways, and paired with contrasting ribbed socks in bright greens, yellows and greys. The male models also confidently strode in Mary Janes on the runway. The silhouette was transformed with silk-polyester Mary Jane sneakers in black, white, burgundy, purple, sky blue and red colourways.

As we look ahead, we’re eager to see how this bold ballet-inspired trend will continue to shape men’s style and redefine the boundaries of what’s possible in fashion.

Images by Dior.