Kim Jones’ Extended Fashion Family Gathered for Legion of Honor Ceremony
The extended fashion family of Kim Jones piled into swanky Paris restaurant Laurent on Friday night to see the designer decorated as a Knight of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest civilian decoration.
Delphine and Antoine Arnault, Gwendoline Christie, Kieran Culkin, Honey Dijon, Jay Chou, Jeremy O. Harris and Robert Pattinson were joined by the likes of Yoon Ahn, Neil Barrett, Zac Posen, Adrian Appiolaza and Giles Deacon.
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“He’s friends with a lot of designers,” said Silvia Venturini Fendi, who first met Jones at a luxury conference in Rome back in 2012. They bonded as both were a bit nervous about being grilled on stage by Suzy Menkes.
“He’s very inclusive. He really has this idea of a fashion family, and a team spirit around creativity,” Venturini Fendi said.
Los Angeles designer Eli Russell Linnetz said he first connected with Jones via direct message on Instagram — and the rest is history.
“He’s a man who knows what he wants. Yeah, he messaged me back, and five days later, the entire Dior team was in Venice Beach,” he related, referring to a 2023 resort collaboration between the French house and his ERL label.
“He’s definitely an amazing orchestrator, the way he brings people together, and the way he’s able to execute on his big visions,” Linnetz said. “It’s an insane talent, amazing.”
Addressing the packed room, Anna Wintour, chief content officer of Condé Nast and global editorial director of Vogue, elaborated on Jones’ character.
“The wonderful thing about Kim is that he very rarely does anything solo. Everything is togetherness, supporting, collaborating, lifting up, whether it’s a movie star he’s dressing or an absolutely unknown designer looking for their big break,” she said. “Some years ago, if you had visited Kim at his house in London, you might have met a young DJ and aspiring designer named Virgil Abloh who was sleeping on Kim’s sofa while trying to get a break in the fashion world. And to this day, Kim is the person we all call if a young designer or an older designer needs advice or help, because he never says no.”
She gave a brief recap of his career, which kicked off with his own label, which he shelved to take on a creative director role at Dunhill and successive ones at luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, where he has served variously as creative director of menswear at Louis Vuitton and Dior, and of womenswear at Fendi.
“When Kim arrived at Fendi, he was following in the legendary footsteps of Karl Lagerfeld,” Wintour said. “Kim, of course, would never compare himself to the incomparable Karl, but they certainly share a few traits, voracious lust for knowledge and a curiosity that is astounding. Kim is not only a designer, but he is a [polymath]. He is a botanist and a zoologist.”
Jones and Lagerfeld also shared a passion for books, noted Sébastien Jondeau, Lagerfeld’s longtime bodyguard and personal assistant.
“He and Karl had the same kind of way to see things, and to take inspiration from everywhere,” Jondeau said. “Kim is someone with a big heart in this crazy business.”
Indeed, Jones did his very best to mention nearly everyone in his extended teams in his acceptance speech.
“If I missed people, I’m really sorry,” he said. “I’ve had a very lovely life doing what I love, and you know, it’s great to share it with everyone. And I just really can’t believe I got this!”
The British designer was previously appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in Queen Elizabeth II’s Birthday Honours List in 2020 for services to fashion.
Launch Gallery: Dior's Kim Jones Awarded Legion of Honor: Inside the Ceremony
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