Dior Homme, SS12, Paris.

There is a growing confidence to the way that Kris Van Assche is handling the Dior Homme legacy. The silhouettes in the recent collection were elegantly simple, and the colours were chosen to deliciously balance the monochrome palette with rich blues, slate greys and deep caramels. The accessories, in particular the bags, were also a good extension of this palette, using simple blocks of the black and caramel tones.

There were also some nice details in the clothes from the metal hardware that were used in place of a button fastening, to the strips of selvedge that were used around the edges of lapels, collars and pockets. (Selvedge being the strip of tightly woven threads at the edge of the fabric and usually treated as a waste product)

With each season, the oversized slouchy silhouette is also starting to look less like a reaction to Dior Homme’s skinnier days and more like the more grown-up, intellectual alternative. There is a nice balance throughout the collection between the dropped shoulder cocoon shapes and the slimline collars and narrow hem cuffs on the trousers.

There is a definite feel that Van Assche is perfecting a certain look, working on the simplicity of the oversized slouchy silhouette for men, and the work pays off as this look appears more refined, and the individual pieces more covetable, with each collection. But designers take a risk in spending too long on one silhouette and this will need to be carefully balanced over the coming collections. It would be a shame for the mould to have been broken on the old Dior Homme silhouette without Van Assche being able to enjoy the new freedom and possibilities that this brings to the label.

Catwalk images from Vogue.co.uk»