The soundtrack to the Dior Homme show was Paninaro by the Pet Shop Boys, their 80s ode to the Paninari, a cult of teenage boys who spent all their money on clothes. A phenomenon not entirely unfamiliar to Dior Homme, but perhaps the most poignant messages in the track were, “Girls, boys, art, pleasure…What I do like, I love passionately.”

Dior Homme director Kris Van Assche said seeing the tuxedoed art fraternity on the sand at Miami Art Basel inspired him with the new cut, as well as the tendency to break the rules, most evident in the wider-bodied jackets worn with short-suits, which were a repeated motif in the collection. The influence of art was felt too in the Mondrian-esque paneling. At first glance it looked like color-blocking, but in fact they were impeccable Frankenstein-like hybrid forms.

Van Assche talked about wanting “an idea of rigor, yet without so many restrictions attached to it.” This looser silhouette and striking use of contradictions certainly gave us that, coupled with the rigorous application of the paneling, and subtle yet exquisitely wearable color palette of burgundy and complex blues. All this of course flirts with Van Assche’s signature passion, the combination of formal and casual. The best example of this today was the footwear, an incredible derby hybrid, with a metal toecap and sneaker-like insert in the sole.

The set was a labyrinth made from mirrors that the boys gradually filed into, eventually filling the many nooks and crannies, exposing the details in the reflections all around them, to another Pet Shop Boys track, Domino Dancing. The name referenced the domino print on the invitation, but the track itself appropriately reminded us of the video’s infamous homoerotic beach scene.