More than a decade after shuttering his label, the Belgian fashion designer returns to the industry.

It's official: Kris Van Assche is reintroducing his eponymous label to the fashion masses. For the brand's revival, the Belgian fashion designer is focusing on utilizing high-quality deadstock fabrics that result in limited quantities of pieces across the board. Around mid-September, he will showcase the new pieces alongside multiple design projects that have kept him busy since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier this month, Van Assche was in the south of France to embrace the summer vacation vibe. On Aug. 30, the designer's Instagram page posted three white blocks telling followers to subscribe to a revamped website while showcasing a new logo. In other words, the icon was making his grand return to the industry.
"After KRISVANASSCHE, Dior and Berluti; after expanding my work into design objects for Serax, bronze sculptures with Downtown Gallery and collaborations with Anta and Fred Perry, it felt like the right moment for a profoundly personal expression of fashion again," Van Assche said on Instagram Monday morning.&nbsp;

Kris Van Assche. Photo via Instagram/@kris_van_assche

Growing up in Londerzeel, Van Assche is an only child who was between Belgium's Antwerp and Brussels. After studying womenswear and graduating from the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1998, he moved to Paris to become Hedi Slimane's first assistant for the Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Homme line.
Even when the French fashion designer joined Dior in 2000, he brought Van Assche along with him to develop Dior Homme, and the collaboration continued until September 2004. Four months later, he presented his own men's collection during Paris Men's Fashion Week under KRISVANASSCHE.
With the launch of his eponymous label in 2005, Van Assche became the artistic director of Dior Homme in April 2007. In 2013, the KRISVANSSCHE boutique opened and was located at 16 rue Saint Roch in the 1st arrondissement. Two capsule collections with American denim brand Lee followed before the designer decided to shutter his personal label due to challenges of being independent.

When Van Assche left Dior Homme in March 2018, he headed to Berluti as Haider Ackermann departed the luxury brand. Three collaborative yet "extremely intense" years later, he left the brand and focused on mentoring at Florence's Polimoda fashion school, a collection for Chinese kidswear brand Balabala, and various sculptures. Yet, time away from fashion provided the designer a new wave of inspiration.&nbsp;
On his Instagram page, a series of three images accompanied the grand announcement, which featured three elements of the brand's relaunch: A black pinstripe blazer, a printed tie, and a crisp white collared shirt on a hanger; a rose stem wrapped in plastic that has a white ribbon with "write more love letters" printed onto it, and a backless pink long-sleeved dress on a hanger covered in plastic. To put it another way, the romantic and personal will lead the charge in this exciting next chapter.
"I graduated in womenswear from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp in 1998, but went on to work almost exclusively in menswear. The desire to work on womenswear never disappeared," Van Assche said. "Now seems like the moment to bring both together. In that sense, this is both a return and a beginning."

Kris Van Assche. Photo courtesy of Instagram/@kris_van_assche

Kris Van Assche Is Relaunching His Label

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Kris Van Assche Is Relaunching His Label

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