Kris Van Assche debuts in home decor with Serax

Kris Van Assche, the noted former designer of Dior and Berluti, has made a new career move, launching into home decor with Serax.

The renowned Belgian designer has teamed up with Serax to create The Josephine Collection, an impressive series of vases and candy jars named in tribute to his beloved grandmother, Josephine.

“It was she who passed on to me, in addition to her love of fashion, her love of sumptuous tables,” explained Van Assche in a release.

“She always said that making an effort with her appearance and preparing a beautiful table was simply another mark of politeness,” Van Assche added.

After graduation, Van Assche began his career at Yves Saint Laurent before quickly joining the Dior Homme studio, where he spent four years. In 2004, Van Assche founded his own eponymous label, primarily dedicated to men’s fashion. In 2007, he succeeded his mentor, Hedi Slimane, as artistic director of Dior Homme. After a decade at Dior, in 2018, he was appointed artistic director at Berluti, an icon of leather goods and footwear — all the while paying tribute to the brand’s exceptional savoir-faire while steering Berluti toward a more contemporary style.

Since Berluti, Van Assche has also designed kidswear collections for Balabala. Meanwhile, Belgium-based Serax has collaborated with creatives such as Ann Demeulemeester, Kelly Wearstler, Marie Michielssen, Marni, Ottolenghi, Paola Navone, Piet Boon, Sergio Herman and Vincent Van Duysen.

With Serax, he harks back to his granny Josephine, who saw flowers as an essential element of an elegantly decorated interior — a vision she passed on to her grandson. “If you look at the 55 collections I’ve designed over the past twenty years, it’s clear that flowers occupy a central place,” underlined Van Assche.

“Flowers are like fashion: they’re not an absolute necessity, but they make life more beautiful,” he concluded.

Although the beauty of classical objects inspires the collection, Van Assche brings his own modern vision to them. For example, the foot, traditionally round, here takes on a rectangular shape — a subtle detail, but one with impact. The classic style of vases and candy boxes has also been modernized through the use of materials such as concrete, marble and even silver porcelain.