Susan with Romanian designer, Janina Nectara

This season, team Dior Homme took over the Tennis Club de Paris and transformed its playing courts into a grand Parisian apartment, complete with parquet floors, three fireplaces and six enormous chandeliers. Everyone loves to see what Kris Van Assche will unveil next for Dior Homme, so the fashion flock, as well as celebrities like Sean “Diddy” Combs and French film star Lambert Wilson, made their way into the arena and took seats on risers surrounding three sides of the floor.

Sidney Toledano, President & CEO of Christian Dior Couture, and Sean “Diddy” Combs

Lambert Wilson

Ellen von Unwerth

Sébastien Jondeau and Karl Lagerfeld arrive at the Dior Homme show

Sébastien Jondeau

Karl Lagerfeld, a fan of the Dior Homme line for years, created quite a stir, entering from one side of the courts and crossing to the other. As usual, his entourage included his bodyguard/aide-de-camp, Sébastien Jondeau, one of the handsomest men in Paris…if not the world!

Much as he did with his own collection, Kris played with volume chez Dior: slim pants were juxtaposed with tunics and capes, while full trousers were paired with close-fitting tops. There were handsome coats (Kris later described the collection as “very Avenue Montaigne”), dapper suits and some great accessories, including large, leather-trimmed totes in the same flannels used for the clothes. There were also lots of wide-brimmed hats (a trend seen on several runways this season), which sometimes suggested a crowd of Amish farmers crossing the floor. But no farmer would be likely to don Kris’s clever, trompe l’oeil tee/vest/shirt combination.

Models backstage after the show

Susan congratulates Kris Van Assche on another successful show

Backstage, after the show, Kris fielded questions from the press while standing in front of a phalanx of models, all of whom were still dressed in the striking red, black and grey clothes they’d worn on the runway. Forget the tennis courts: this was a true representation of “Team Dior.”

––Mark Grischke

Photographs by Stephane Israël. Runway photographs via Style.com.