When TOMORROW X TOGETHER made their way to Paris for the closing of the Fashion Week Men's Autumn/Winter 2024 show season in January this year, they were given the complete Dior experience. The quintet did the usual touristy things—visiting the Louvre and strolling around the Seine—but also had the opportunity to visit La Galerie Dior, the exhibition space located within the House's iconic 30 Avenue Montaigne address.

Throughout their adventures around Paris, TOMORROW X TOGETHER were dressed completely in Dior Men, ranging from artistic director Kim Jones' more casual streetwear-leaning proposals to impeccable tailoring that stayed true to the haute couture spirit of the House. The latter was on elegant display as the group entered (to a cacophony of screams and camera clicks, no less) the show space of the Dior Men Winter 2024 runway show at Paris' École Militaire in the city's seventh arrondissement.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER's outfits were a calculated move, both by the group as well as the House. Tapping on his own personal experiences and roots—as he often does time and time again at Dior Men—Jones' inspiration for the Dior Men Winter 2024 collection revolved around the perceived reality of a ballet dancer's life versus the actual reality of it. The ballet dancer in question is Soviet-born Rudolf Nureyev, one of the most renowned male ballet dancers in the world and just so happens to be a friend of Jones' uncle, photographer and former ballet dancer Colin Jones.

Before delving deeper into the inspiration behind the Dior Men Winter 2024 collection, it's important to note that the very beginnings of the collection was an exploration of Monsieur Dior's own relationship with ballet. English ballerina Margot Fonteyn is said to have first discovered the house of Dior in 1948 while on a trip to Paris and became a fan of its creations. A friendship with Monsieur Dior naturally developed and Fonteyn often chose to wear Dior on numerous occasions.

This is where an almost unbelievable happenstance begins. Fonteyn's most famous dance partner is none other than Nureyev—effectively linking Monsieur Dior and Jones in the most amazing way.

"When Colin became a photographer, he maintained strong links to the ballet world and, in 1966, Time Life asked him to document a day in the life of Nureyev, regarded by some as the greatest male ballet dancer of his generation. Bonded through their shared history and mutual sense of fun and mischief, the pair went on to forge a great friendship," explains Jones.

The resulting Dior Men Winter 2024 is one of contrasts: the difference between ready-to-wear and couture, between onstage and backstage, and between the life of Nureyev theatrically and in reality. "Here, it is a meeting of the dancer's style with that of the Dior archive," expresses Jones.

There's no doubt that Jones is already more than familiar with crafting from points of contrasts. His oeuvre at Dior Men has always been merging elegant signatures from the archives with contemporary stylings. The Winter 2024 collection takes references from Saint Laurent's time at Dior, translating the late designer's tailored volumes, vents, pleats and necklines. The iconic Bar jacket created by Monsieur Dior is contextualised once again, this time, combined with Jones' very own Oblique tailoring.

While the runway collection is imbued with more extravagant flounces as well as the debut of Dior Men's haute couture—as nods to Nureyev's theatrical career—the dramatic flair as seen on TOMORROW X TOGETHER are more nuanced. '60s- and '70s-inspired tailoring are cut with a rigid straightforwardness, especially in the single-breasted variations, that are then paired with gently flared trousers. Conversely, the collection's more commercial pieces lend a more streetwear air. Take this as the contemporary equivalent of a dancer's off-duty look with slouchy cardigans and hoodies worn over essential white T-shirts and paired with the roomiest of trousers.

It may be a stretch to compare the duality of Nureyev's life with that of TOMORROW X TOGETHER's, given that the former didn't have to contend with the accessibility of social media and in turn, the almost instant, global fame achieved by TOMORROW X TOGETHER. Yet, what remains a similarity is in the versatility and adaptability of both to weave in and out of their lives onstage and off that echo that contrast of two opposing worlds within the Dior Men Winter 2024 collection.

Photography: Brett Lloyd
Animation: Joan Tai