Dior x Stone Island as Functional Flex? Ask Mbappé
For Kylian Mbappé, Dior x Stone Island isn't as much a luxury flex as it is a technical one... kinda. The Paris Saint-Germain all-star, the first celeb to publicly rep Dior and Stone Island's collaboration, had a great opportunity to showcase it from a functional perspective.
On May 29, Mbappé and fellow PSG forward Bradley Barcola repped Dior x Stone Island en route to the French football training grounds at INF Clairefontaine.
And, notably, rain was pouring while Mbappé and Barcola raced for cover. The perfect testing grounds for the functional side of Dior x SI!
Or it would've been, that is, had the footballers been wearing any of the lineup's legitimately technical clothes.
See, Mbappé wore an embroidered Dior x SI waistcoat (vest, for us Yanks), T-shirt, and denim cargo pants while Barcola was comparatively comparatively dapper in a Dior x SI suit made of silk habotai.
Classically cool looks to be sure, demonstrative of the luxurious inclinations the partnership but far more Dior than Stone Island, in so far as none of that casual finery is keeping them dry.
Surely, one of the Dior x Stone Island collection's weatherproof jackets might've been the move?
Even still, though, can't deny the crisp appeal of unpretentious layering pieces.
Part of the Dior x Stone Island lineup's appeal is that it's neither one of the collaborator's design language — it's both.
The collaboration organically infuses the codes Kim Jones' Dior Homme — crisp tailoring, clean lines, archival homages — within Stone Island's militaria design language and inimitable dying techniques.
What results is imminently wearable and more than a little flex-worthy, akin to Stone Island's New Balance team-ups.
It's also got some technical savviness, though you wouldn't know from Dior ambassador Mbappé's waterlogged visage. Well, at least he looks good.
