The more I look at it the more I like this FW/10 collection from Siki Im, which I had the opportunity to see in an expandable-foam-like-snowdrift-skate-ramp-glass-box-diorama-situation this past Friday at the HL23 gallery space for the final installment of Building Fashion, a series of installations highlighting collaborations between architects and designers. Im’s background as an architect and as a designer for both Karl Lagerfeld and Helmut Lang is obvious here, along with some pieces reminiscent of both a more subtle, office-friendly Rick Owens and that sort of 90’s Margiela deconstructed minimalism. While marketed and modelled as menswear Im insists the collection isn’t supposed to be distinctly either, and as excited as I got about uber-pro-looking wool manskirts paired with ties, chopped up blazers, and chunky knits, it was the restrained and decidedly-un-bondagey matte leather accent pieces which really did it for me. I’m still coveting those double-wrap bracelets that go over both the knuckles and wrist, and love the single-strap, belt-like harnesses keeping some of the other pieces in place.
While I’m at it, I know I’ve been terribly AWOL lately, due to any number of infinite reasons - but I’ve been writing up a storm for both Gucci Goth (here’s the absurd mix I made for our week of mixes) and Oaknyc’s Oakazine (recent pieces on Gabriela Marina Gonzalez and Barbara I Gongini.) Both of which, you know, you should probably be reading as well.
