Dior Men's Pre-Fall 2023

CAIRO, Egypt - Visitors to Cairo this weekend could be forgiven for thinking they landed on another planet.

A city of nearly 22 million without traffic lights, the Egyptian capital is dotted with crumbling buildings reminiscent of a "Blade Runner 2049" set. Dior's Kim Jones, who brought the fashion caravan to town for her pre-fall menswear show, had another sci-fi classic in mind: Frank Herbert's "Dune."

The French fashion house unveiled the collection after the sun went down in front of the pyramids of Giza, in a spectacular display that set a new bar for destination shows in the post-pandemic era. As the patterns emerged as spectral points on a lit strip of track on the horizon, the three pyramids lit up in succession, their edges outlined in white against the pitch-black sky.

Guests including Robert Pattinson, Naomi Campbell, Daniel Kaluuya, Lewis Hamilton, Sehun and Cha Eunwoo attended at the show, followed by a live concert by British composer Max Richter.

A look from the Dior pre-fall men's show. Courtesy of Dior

With her peroxide blonde hair, relaxed '80s cut and moon boots, the first model evoked Sting in David Lynch's 1984 adaptation of "Dune" - a critical disaster at the time that has since become cult. Younger audiences will connect the lineup's swirling capes, 3D-printed breastplates and space helmets to Denis Villeneuve's 2021 release, starring Timothée Chalamet.

Jones said he was most inspired by the storyboards of cult director Alejandro's failed attempt Jodorowsky to bring the novel to the screen in the mid-1970s. Thousands of preparatory sketches were made by artists Moebius and H.R. Giger.

"The costumes are too complete to really reference, but this was a movie that didn't never been done that would have been amazing," the designer told WWD in a preview. "I have a signed Frank Herbert edition of each of the seven 'Dune' books in my library and have been obsessed with them for years."

Suki Waterhouse and Robert Pattinson. Stephane Feugere