Simon Parris Discusses Creative Influences, Contemporary Culture and Growing Up with Kim Jones

The Dior Common Thread podcast series represents a fascinating new avenue for exploring the collaborations initiated by Kim Jones since his arrival at Dior. Each episode will present a compelling encounter with one of the inspiring figures who have participated in his endlessly original reinventions.

In conversation with Ed Tang, each recounts their unique experience and shares their singular vision, providing an immersive new window into the world of Dior Men.

In this episode, Tang talks to Simon Parris, a core member of the Kim Jones Studio, a multifaceted studio based in London that provides design, communications and artistic consultancy services to Dior, Fendi and other international clients. 

A contemporary Renaissance man, Parris was raised in a creative home; his late father was an art historian and curator who worked for the Tate for 35 years, and his mother was active in bookbinding historic prints and magazine editing. Parris met Kim Jones when growing up in Lewes in Sussex, England, and their lives have been interwoven since. “I guess really we’re closer to being brothers than friends,” he says of their friendship which has been formalized through their work and collaborative projects. His role at the studio is to instigate and facilitate collaborations with external creatives. The multidisciplinary talent was also behind the soundtrack for the recently unveiled ‘California Couture’ Dior men’s Spring 2023 show in Venice Beach. 

Straddling the worlds of art, music, fashion and design, Parris has worked in a variety of fields, from non-profits to commercial galleries to orchestrating projects for major and emerging brands. In this intimate exchange that offers a fascinating window into Kim Jones’s inner circle, he discusses subjects ranging from creative influences and collaborations to insights into contemporary culture.

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