Kim Jones creates "glass of cognac in sneaker form" for Hennessy
Dior artistic director Kim Jones has designed a bottle, decanter and pair of monochrome trainers for drinks brand Hennessy.
Named the Hennessy X.O x Kim Jones collection, the trio of pieces aim to blend "cognac and couture" and are the first in the Hennessy X.O Masterpiece series to be created by a fashion designer.
Jones is the latest high-profile designer to recreate a bottle for Hennessy following industrial designer Marc Newson and architects Frank Gehry and Daniel Libeskind.
However, the HNY Low Sneakers are the first trainers ever created for the drinks brand.
"I wanted it to be elevated and chic, to reflect both the long heritage of cognac and my own design values," said Jones.
"I wanted it to feel like you're almost looking into the bottle," he continued. "It's a glass of cognac in sneaker form."
Informed by early basketball shoes, the trainers have a simple design with a grooved rubber sole, imprinted with cognac vines on its base, and a nubuck leather upper.
Jones wanted to create a monochrome look, with brown sole and laces and a cognac-toned upper that create a trainer that nods towards both the cognac itself and the bottle.
"We took the details from the bottle like the ribbon around the bottle, which became very shiny, and that became the laces, the little you can see, the eyelets and things reflected in the bottle as well," Jones told Dezeen.
"It was really just looking at the idea of the colour of the cognac, and by taking that through, I wanted one that reflected what the consumer would be, which isn't that dissimilar to someone that Dior or Fendi where, they have that lifestyle where they're casual but smart," he continued. "And so that's what I was really looking at."
The trainers were made at a shoe factory in Italy owned by Hennessy and Dior's parent company LVMH. They are packaged within an oak box that recalls the barrels Hennessy is rested within, also designed by Jones.
He hopes that the trainer will be worn by the same customer that drinks Hennessy X.O.
"I like the fact that you could wear with tailoring or with denim, or you could wear it casually or smart, and that's why it's all one colour," said Jones.
"But really, the focus is on the actual colour of the cognac itself," he continued. "So it's quite simple. I find when you do things with footwear that are more simple, people react to it. It's much wider and it's stronger because it's very clear."
Alongside the trainers, Jones created a bootle and decanter that were both informed both by the original tissue paper wrappings that Hennessy X.O was packaged in and the technique of draping used to make dresses.
"When I saw how the vintage Hennessy bottles were wrapped, it spoke volumes to me about how precious each one is, and how they were handled," said Jones.
"I was thinking about looking at the shape of the bottle," he continued. "It's almost like a ball gown, in a sense. But, without making it look historic, you want it to look modern so you take the aspect of the metallic and the idea of the drapes going up, not down."
The decanter was cast in titanium that entirely wraps internal bottle "like an architectural second skin". To extract the liquid Jones also designed a fusil.
For the bottle, which was described as the ready-to-wear version, an aluminium second skin was created. For both pieces Kim approached the design as if he was designing an item of clothing.
"We treated it like a mini pattern, like you would with a piece of clothing," he explained. "And it's sort of the central aspect of it that is really interesting as well."
"With clothing, you can adjust it very quickly, with a piece of metal that gets moulded and made, it takes time and your original idea won't necessarily turn out as you desire it to be at the beginning because of technical aspects of it," he continued.
"So, it comes back in different stages and different processes. And it's interesting to just see how that changes and evolves."
Previous bottles designed for Hennessy include a limited-edition piece made from crinkled gold by Gehry to mark the 150th anniversary of Hennessy X.O and an angular bottle designed by Libeskind for the Richard Hennessy cognac.
The photography is by Brett Lloyd and Hennessy.
The post Kim Jones creates "glass of cognac in sneaker form" for Hennessy appeared first on Dezeen.