Long before he became the artistic director of Dior Men’s, Kim Jones’ life was shaped by his globe-trotting experiences. His reputation may be as a stalwart of British fashion, but the Londoner spent most of his childhood living in Ecuador and Kenya, absorbing the sights and sounds that would ultimately inform his design sensibilities.
His upbringing plays a central role in not just his creative process, but also in luxury luggage brand Rimowa’s new ‘Never Still’ campaign.
As one of the faces of a campaign that includes basketball’s LeBron James, Jones attributes his experience of other cultures as a way of putting him outside
his comfort zone.
“I think, if you don’t go into the unfamiliar, then you don’t feel uncomfortable. And if you don’t feel uncomfortable, you can’t challenge yourself,” he says.
Currently tasked (and succeeding in) plotting the future of menswear at Dior, the former men’s artistic director of Louis Vuitton is one of the most recognizable and revered names in fashion today—having been at the forefront of creating the blend of luxury and streetwear.
The Rimowa campaign focuses on Jones in Tokyo and jungles of India—two places that he takes a lot of his inspiration from.
“Tokyo is somewhere I spend a huge amount of my time, and it’s somewhere that I do a lot of work.” While he describes India as “a personal escape,” where he drinks in the culture, but even more than that, the wilderness and wildlife. “When I saw tigers in the wild there, I was like, ‘Oh, I want to see more. More.’”
As with many experienced travellers, Jones travels light. With little space for extras, he takes no more than four sets of clothes that can be mixed and matched without overthinking.
Rimowa’s campaign mantra of ‘no one builds a legacy by standing still’ provides us with a glimpse into each individual’s personal life on the go, detailing the hardships of being on the road and the drive that is necessary not only to endure
but thrive.
