Duncan Grant is definitely back in fashion. Grant was a leading light in the Bloomsbury set of artists and aesthetes whose colourful tastes and lifestyle have inspired artists and aesthetes throughout the 20th and 21st centuries (his erotic drawings should make waves this autumn). Kim Jones, Dior men’s artistic director, is the latest creative trazilblazer to look to Grant, presenting designs last month in Paris which drew on his passion for Charleston, the Bloomsbury group’s Sussex idyll.
Re-creating Charleston. Dior Men Summer 2023
© Dior
“The models made their way through the surreal scenography, from the scale reconstruction of Granville [Dior’s childhood home in Normandy], through the wild planted garden and freshly laid grass, and across to the detailed model of Charleston, complete with signature pink door and climbing roses,” says the Charleston website. Grant’s influence popped up all over the fashion parade. Featured in the collection is a new form of camouflage on reflective tech fabric and traditional needlepoint, inspired by Lily Pond Screen (around 1913). “Charleston for me is a place I’ve loved and known since I was 14,” Jones says, explaining why the Bloomsbury group still rules.
