Kim Jones’ Trend Buddies Turned Out for Legion of Honor Ceremony

The prolonged style household of Kim Jones piled into swanky Paris restaurant Laurent on Friday night time to see the designer adorned as a Knight of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest civilian ornament.

Delphine and Antoine Arnault, Gwendoline Christie, Kieran Culkin, Honey Dijon, Jay Chou and Robert Pattinson have been joined by the likes of Yoon Ahn, Neil Barrett, Zac Posen, Adrian Appiolaza and Giles Deacon.

“He’s associates with quite a lot of designers,” mentioned Silvia Venturini Fendi, who first met Jones at a luxurious convention in Rome again in 2012. They bonded as each have been a bit nervous about being grilled on stage by Suzy Menkes.

“He’s very inclusive. He actually has this concept of a style household, and a staff spirit round creativity,” Venturini Fendi mentioned.

Los Angeles designer Eli Russell Linnetz mentioned he first linked with Jones through direct message on Instagram – and the remainder is historical past.

“He’s a person who is aware of what he desires. Yeah, he messaged me again, and 5 days later, all the Dior staff was in Venice Seashore,” he associated, referring to a 2023 resort collaboration between the French home and his ERL label.

“He’s undoubtedly an incredible orchestrator, the way in which he brings individuals collectively, and the way in which he’s capable of execute on his large visions,” Linnetz mentioned. “It’s an insane expertise, wonderful.”

Addressing the packed room, Anna Wintour, chief content material officer of Condé Nast and world editorial director of Vogue, elaborated on Jones’ character.

“The beauty of Kim is that he very hardly ever does something solo. The whole lot is togetherness, supporting, collaborating, lifting up, whether or not it’s a film star he’s dressing or a fully unknown designer searching for their large break,” she mentioned. “Some years in the past, for those who had visited Kim at his home in London, you may need met a younger DJ and aspiring designer named Virgil Abloh who was sleeping on Kim’s couch whereas attempting to get a break within the style world. And to at the present time, Kim is the individual all of us name if a younger designer or an older designer wants recommendation or assist, as a result of he by no means says no.”

She gave a quick recap of his profession, which kicked off along with his personal label, which he shelved to tackle a artistic director function at Dunhill and successive ones at luxurious conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the place he has served variously as artistic director of menswear at Louis Vuitton and Dior, and of womenswear at Fendi.

“When Kim arrived at Fendi, he was following within the legendary footsteps of Karl Lagerfeld,” Wintour mentioned. “Kim, after all, would by no means examine himself to the incomparable Karl, however they actually share just a few traits, voracious lust for data and a curiosity that’s astounding. Kim isn’t solely a designer, however he’s a polymer. He’s a botanist and a zoologist.”

Jones and Lagerfeld additionally shared a ardour for books, famous Sébastien Jondeau, Lagerfeld’s longtime bodyguard and private assistant.

“He and Karl had the identical type of method to see issues, and to take inspiration from in all places,” Jondeau mentioned. “Kim is somebody with an enormous coronary heart on this loopy enterprise.”

Certainly, Jones did his best possible to say practically everybody in his prolonged groups in his acceptance speech.

“If I missed individuals, I’m actually sorry,” he mentioned. “I’ve had a really pretty life doing what I like, and you realize, it’s nice to share it with everybody. And I simply actually can’t imagine I acquired this!”

The British designer was beforehand appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in Queen Elizabeth II’s Birthday Honours Checklist in 2020 for providers to style.