Dior Homme's creative director of Kris Van Assche turns traditional craftsmanship into modern designs

There's no other word for it. You could be armed with the extensive vocabulary of a Merriam-Webster lexicographer, but the first and foremost description that comes to mind when you see Kris Van Assche is that he is, simply, cool.

The artistic director of Dior Homme has had a big night. The evening before, the brand had hosted VIPs and editors from around the world at its 2015/16 winter collection fashion show in Guangzhou. In typical Van Assche style, the show was a delight and a spectacle, featuring an orchestra seated in a revolving circle set in the middle of the Opera House's stage. The post-show party went on for a while, but you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at Van Assche, who looks remarkably well-rested in his airy suite at the Four Seasons.

This should perhaps come as no surprise, given that the fashion designer is used to a hectic lifestyle. From the moment he graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp in 1998, Van Assche has steadily risen in prominence and success, going from Yves Saint Laurent to Dior, to creating his own eponymous label, and finally back to Dior. Today, in addition to his busy role at Dior Homme, he is still managing his own label, and no sooner has one collection ended that the next one begins.

"It's an ongoing process, and every season is a new challenge," he says, explaining that the end of a season often has an impact on the following collection. "There are always things you want to improve, do better, or even never do again."

After his last collection for spring/summer, for example, which is inspired by the beach and includes no shortage of florals and prints, Van Assche has gone to the other end of the sartorial spectrum for the winter collection.

"My first idea coming into this fall/winter season was the tuxedo," he says, adding that the biggest challenge with this collection was taking something very formal and austere, and making it contemporary and relevant to the modern man.

"When you think of black tie, you think of black and white movies, something very historic [from decades ago] - I didn't want it to be like that," he says. "It's 2015, and people are very active. When I imagine Dior Homme, he's alive and he moves. The collection could have looked very costume-like and theatrical, but we managed to make them appear wearable in real life, in this day and age … and I was very happy about that."

Van Assche has always been good at transforming classic silhouettes into more contemporary versions that are no less refined than their traditional counterparts. His understanding of what the modern man needs is exactly what distinguished him when he took the helm at Dior Homme in 2007.