The Dior Common Thread podcast series represents a fascinating new avenue for exploring the collaborations initiated by Kim Jones since his arrival at Dior. Each episode will present a compelling encounter with one of the inspiring figures who have participated in his endlessly original reinventions.

In conversation with Ed Tang, each recounts their unique experience and shares their singular vision, providing an immersive new window into the world of Dior Men.

In this episode, Tang talks to Simon Parris, a core member of the Kim Jones Studio, a multifaceted studio based in London that provides design, communications and artistic consultancy services to Dior, Fendi and other international clients.

A contemporary Renaissance man, Parris was raised in a creative home; his late father was an art historian and curator who worked for the Tate for 35 years, and his mother was active in bookbinding historic prints and magazine editing. Parris met Kim Jones when growing up in Lewes in Sussex, England, and their lives have been interwoven since. “I guess really we’re closer to being brothers than friends,” he says of their friendship which has been formalized through their work and collaborative projects. His role at the studio is to instigate and facilitate collaborations with external creatives. The multidisciplinary talent was also behind the soundtrack for the recently unveiled ‘California Couture’ Dior men’s Spring 2023 show in Venice Beach.

Straddling the worlds of art, music, fashion and design, Parris has worked in a variety of fields, from non-profits to commercial galleries to orchestrating projects for major and emerging brands. In this intimate exchange that offers a fascinating window into Kim Jones’s inner circle, he discusses subjects ranging from creative influences and collaborations to insights into contemporary culture.

The Dior Common Thread podcast series represents a fascinating new avenue for exploring the collaborations initiated by Kim Jones since his arrival at Dior. Each episode will present a compelling encounter with one of the inspiring figures who have participated in his endlessly original reinventions.

In conversation with Ed Tang, each recounts their unique experience and shares their singular vision, providing an immersive new window into the world of Dior Men.

The latest guest on the series is Stephen Jones who has served as Artistic Director of Hats at Dior for more than 25 years, a role that includes creating all the headgear for the Dior men’s collections.

Christian Dior himself wrote in his Little Dictionary of Fashion, “A hat is essential to any outfit. It completes it. In a way, a hat is the best way to express your personality,” and here Jones, who crafted his first hat out of a cereal box and glue, fabric from an old blouse belonging to his sister, and a plastic rose, discusses the role of hats in creating an illusion and taking a silhouette to another level.

The prolific and highly inventive British milliner grew up in Liverpool and moved to London in the year of punk, 1976, where he enrolled at Central Saint Martins to study fashion. During an internship at the Lachasse couture house in London’s Mayfair district he pursued his passion for hats, training under Shirley Hex, head of the millinery atelier.

Jones made his foray into fashion through Zandra Rhodes, going on to work for other legendary designers including Jean Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler and Claude Montana, and in this intimate exchange he discusses the privilege over a 40-year career of being able to delve into the heads of the greatest fashion designers of our time. The veteran milliner, who celebrated his 25th anniversary at Dior in 2021, taking a runway bow with Kim Jones at the finale of the Dior men’s Winter 2022-2023 show, gets a thrill from finding out what makes designers tick.

“I’m often there right at the beginning of the creative process, so I see it all the way through. And I see it through the ups and the downs, how at the beginning of the design meetings they say ‘pink,’ and then at the end it’s black. Or it’s 14th century and then it becomes Space Age. That whole trajectory of how a design develops is completely fascinating to me,” says Jones. “Sometimes, I don’t understand what the hell’s going on. But if I believe in a designer, I’ll let them take my hand and lead me into a garden of creativity that I don’t know about yet.”

Tune into the episode to hear all about the fascinating life story of one of the most revered milliners of our time.

The Dior Common Thread podcast series represents a fascinating new avenue for exploring the collaborations initiated by Kim Jones since his arrival at Dior. Each episode will present a compelling encounter with one of the inspiring figures who have participated in his endlessly original reinventions.

In conversation with Ed Tang, each recounts their unique experience and shares their singular vision, providing an immersive new window into the world of Dior Men.

In this episode, Tang speaks with ERL’s Eli Russell Linnetz a week after his ‘California Couture’ show with Kim Jones for the Dior men’s Spring 2023 capsule, marking both the House’s debut co-branded collection and the first ever runway show for the young designer.

Melding nods to couture, film, music, art and skateboarding, the pioneering show revisited Dior codes through playful nods to the designer’s own SoCal roots, referencing everything from “Home Alone” to family Christmases in ‘90s America, while padded skater shoes adopt the tones of a California sunset.

Linnetz, who describes watching the show from backstage with Kim Jones, still sees the experience as being a bit surreal. “Some things in life feel like a dream, but also when you put so much work into it there’s a bit of grounding that happens through the process,” he tells Tang.

The designer also shares how he was introduced to Kim Jones through their mutual friend Ronnie Cooke Newhouse. In the space of a 45-second phone call, they had agreed to do the collaboration.

“[Kim] said, “Do you want to do this?” and I said, “Yes.” And I think it was the next week or the week after, the whole Dior team arrived and we designed the collection at my studio,” says Linnetz, revealing that it’s the freest he’s ever felt with any collaboration. “It was a masterclass in how to run a fashion house,” he adds.

It’s been a long time coming for Linnetz, who started out in film but had always dreamt of doing something in fashion. Born and raised in Venice Beach, California, where the Dior show took place, the multifaceted designer after graduating attended film school and soon found himself directing music videos and stage tours for Kanye West. Working for West, Lady Gaga and other high-profile personalities, Linnetz, who had also started shooting fashion campaigns, was yearning to create something for himself. In 2018, he started ERL from nothing. And after turning to Adrian Joffe from Comme des Garçons for advice, “What started out as me making a T-shirt for the opening of Dover Street Market L.A. turned into a whole brand.”

Tune in to hear the young designer talk about his journey and what he learned from working with Kim Jones.