Kim Niklas Jones (born 11 September 1979) is an English fashion designer. He is a graduate of
Central St Martins College of Art and Design
Central Saint Martins is a public university, public tertiary education, tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and pos ...
.
Early life and education
Born in London, Jones spent his childhood in Ecuador, the Caribbean, and Africa, following his father's job as a hydrologist.Jenny Comita (15 December 2021) Kim Jones Settles Into the Fendi Family '' W''.
Jones studied graphics and photography at
Camberwell School of Art
Camberwell College of Arts is a public tertiary art school in Camberwell, in London, England. It is one of the six constituent colleges of the University of the Arts London. It offers further and higher education programmes, including postgrad ...
before enrolling in the MA Fashion course at Central Saint Martins, studying menswear. He graduated in 2002.
Career
Kim Jones, 2003–2008
Jones launched his eponymous brand in 2003, and in 2005 showed as part of the first season of MAN in conjunction with
Fashion East Fashion East is a non-profit designer support and showcasing scheme, a project established by the Old Truman Brewery and Lulu Kennedy MBE in 2000.Fashion East"About Fashion East"/ref> Designers can apply for support across three different programmes ...
, showcasing a short fashion film. Other presentations have varied from films with Alasdair McLellen and Toyin, to a book with American art photographer
Luke Smalley
Luke Smalley (June 6, 1955 – May 17, 2009) was an American photographer known for capturing boys in adolescence and as a talented art director famous for creating "playful images that explored the intersections between fashion and masculinity". ...
.
Alongside his own brand, he collaborated or worked with a wide range of other brands during this period, including
Hugo Boss
Hugo Boss AG, often styled as BOSS, is a luxury fashion house headquartered in Metzingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company sells clothing, accessories, footwear, and fragrances. Hugo Boss is one of the largest German clothing companies, ...
,
Topman
Topman is a UK-based multinational men's fashion retail brand founded by Burton Group (later renamed Arcadia Group) in 1978. Along with its women's clothing counterpart Topshop and the rest of Arcadia Group, Topman went into administration i ...
,
Umbro
Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their ''Double Diamond'' logo. Umbro products are marketed in over 10 ...
, Mulberry, Iceberg, and Kanye West's Pastelle, before being appointed as Creative Director for British men's luxury-goods brand Alfred Dunhill in 2008. After joining Dunhill, he closed his own brand.
Louis Vuitton, 2011–2018
In 2011, Jones was named the new style director of the men's ready-to-wear division at
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury bags and leather ...
, replacing Paul Helbers, who had held the position for five years. During his time at the label, he helped develop a hit collaboration in 2017 with skatewear brand Supreme on a collection of branded hoodies, bags and other goods.
On 17 January 2018, it was announced that Jones would be leaving Vuitton as men's artistic director, after showing his final collection, A/W18, the following day.
Dior, 2018–present
On 19 March 2018, Jones was announced as creative director of
Dior Homme
Dior Homme is the menswear division of Christian Dior SA, the French clothing retailer. Dior Men has been under the creative direction of Kim Jones since spring/summer 2019. It had been directed by Hedi Slimane since the fall/winter 2001-02 seaso ...
, replacing
Kris Van Assche
Kris Van Assche (born 12 May 1976) is a Belgian fashion designer. He was the creative director of Berluti (2018-2021), a luxury leather brand owned by LVMH, and artistic director for Dior Homme from 2007 to 2018.
Early life and education
Van Ass ...
. Prior to his first Dior Homme show, it was confirmed that he had designed the morning suit worn by David Beckham at the wedding of
Prince Harry
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger son of Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. He is fifth in the line of succ ...
and
Meghan Markle
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (; born Rachel Meghan Markle; August 4, 1981) is an American member of the British royal family and former actress. She is the wife of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son of King Charles III.
Meghan was ...
on 19 May 2018. Jones debuted his first collection for
Dior Homme
Dior Homme is the menswear division of Christian Dior SA, the French clothing retailer. Dior Men has been under the creative direction of Kim Jones since spring/summer 2019. It had been directed by Hedi Slimane since the fall/winter 2001-02 seaso ...
in June 2018 at Men's Fashion Week in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
.
In May 2019, Jones revealed concept sketches for South Korean artists,
BTS
BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-pr ...
, announcing that Dior would be in charge of designing custom-made tour outfits, ahead of the band's ''Love Yourself'' World Tour. With the help of other creative directors such as Matthew Williams and Yoon Ahn ( Dior's jewellery director) they incorporated Dior's iconic feminine, floral designs with industrial-like harnesses and chains.
Jones has been assisted for some 15 years by fellow Brit designer Lucy Beeden, who is currently Dior Men's Design Director.
Fendi, 2020–present
In September, 2020 Jones was announced as also taking the role of Artistic Director of Fendi's women's collection, formerly occupied by
Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Otto Lagerfeld (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer.
He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 ...
.
Other projects
Jones has contributed both as stylist and art director for magazines including '' Dazed & Confused'', ''
Arena Homme +
''Arena Homme +'' is a fashion magazine for men published biannually since 1994. The first issue was published in Spring/Summer 1994.V Man'', ''
i-D magazine
''i-D'' is a British bimonthly magazine published by Vice Media, dedicated to fashion, music, art and youth culture. ''i-D'' was founded by designer and former '' Vogue'' art director Terry Jones in 1980. The first issue was published in the fo ...
'', ''Numero Homme'', and ''Fantastic Man''. He has also contributed womenswear styling for ''V'' and ''POP'' magazines.
* 'Umbro by Kim Jones', photographed by Alasdair McLellan, self-published, 2006
* Short film ‘Everywhere’ with Alasdair McLellan, for London Fashion Week February 2006
* Short film ‘Poplife’ with
Will Davidson
William R. Davidson was a Scottish footballer. His regular position was as a half back. He played for Annbank and Manchester United. When Davidson joined the team in 1893, Manchester United was still known as Newton Heath Football Club and ...
, for showstudio.com Spring/Summer 2006
* A womenswear collection for Isetan Tokyo 120th anniversary alongside Visionaire and Comme des Garçons
* Exhibition at the Museum of London, "The London Look – fashion from the street to catwalk," October
* ‘Kim Jones’ by Luke Smalley, published by Twin Palms, 2004
* Short film with Toyin for the launch of the Autumn/Winter 2003 collection edited by Andrew Daffy
* Short film, "Raphi" with Toyin, for showstudio.com
Awards and honours
* 2021 British Fashion Awards - FOR DIOR MEN AND FENDI
* 2009 British Fashion Awards - Menswear Designer Of The Year, Kim Jones for Dunhill.
* 2006 British Fashion Awards - Menswear Designer Of The Year
* Topshop New Generation Award, twice winner
* Dazed and Confused/Egg Bursary
* GQ Magazine – 3 nominations for "Man Of The Year" Awards two years running
* Elle Style Awards – 3 nominations
* Arena magazine- menswear design award nominee
* 2019 British Fashion Awards - Menswear Designer Of The Year
Jones was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the
2020 Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...
for services to fashion.
Personal life
Jones lives in London, in a house designed by the Italian architect Gianni Botsford.