Yesterday I wrote that I had been granted an exclusive backstage interview with Eric Kim, which I am honored to bring to you today:“Eric, I want to thank you for your time before your debut here at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. It is a great pleasure to interview you and I thank you on behalf of all the readers of Men’s Fashion by Francesco.
I know a little about you from your work at the Monarchy Collection, so I would like to begin with the question, ‘What motivated you to start this new line?’
I just wanted to do something that I wanted to do. I think when you become corporate, it gets to a point where you have to start designing for the commercial end of things. As for me, I really want to do things the way I wanted to do them. I want to get back to the roots and I just want to be happy.
What led you to name the new line MIK CIRE?
It’s actually my name. It’s my name backwards. You spell it backwards and you get Eric Kim.
How would you describe the MIK CIRE look?
Like a very dark World War I dough boy. It’s got a lot of inspiration from the World War I uniforms and so forth, but obviously by implementing colors that work for fashion.
Who is the MIK CIRE kind of guy?
The guy who is a little bit more forward. Obviously with the last line that I did, it was much more commercial. This is just something that is me—something I would wear. This is my wardrobe: not the usual stuff that you walk down the street in looking like the same Joe.
How does MIK CIRE differ from Monarchy?In the beginning it was like that. When a company gets to a certain stage, I think it gets knocked off or to a point where everything starts to get bastardized, in a sense. It’s good to start fresh. So this is like a new invention, just a phase of my life. This is a look that I am at right now.
Will you still work with Monarchy?
No, actually I have just completely resigned from there. This is now a new venture. Like I said, I want to do stuff the way I want to do it. It’s really important.
I understand that you grew up in the surf and skate culture of Southern California…
Correct.
…and also that you are a car and motorcycle aficionado.
Correct.
How do these interests affect you as a designer?
For me, they are a release. I don’t think I’m an adrenaline junkie or anything like that. But they’re exciting for me and, for me, that’s the fun part of it. But so is designing, like designing furniture. I designed my home: I designed the house, the furniture, and so forth. My cars, even. My motorcycles. They’re all custom built and I designed them myself. All these things come together in some way; but as far as extreme sports, they’re my release—the way I release stress.
Does being an Asian American have any influence on your designs?I don’t look really at it that way, and I have never really looked at it that way. I know a lot of people do: I have been asked that question many times. We’re just all the same. Since I am born here, I would say that I am more western as far as my culture goes. As far as my roots go, I am more eastern. But obviously style wise, it’s much more western.
Do you find it competitive working in the LA Fashion District?
I don’t want to knock LA— It’s not too competitive, I would say. Actually, I spent my last 20 years in the garment area, and now I work out of my house. I set up an office and I built it out of there.
What prompted you to learve the garment area?
I’ve been on the creative side for a very long time, and I know what it takes to be creative.But being in an environment like that just sucks it right out of you. So I needed an environment—and I wanted to create an environment—that was very cohesive to the way creative people think. I think doing it from my house was that. It is a very free environment. You don’t have the fulfillments. You don’t see the shipping and all the money transactions. You don’t hear or see any of that. I think it is really important having that type of energy around you.
Let’s talk about interests... What music do you like?Oh God, I like everything. Music is like a true art. Clothing to me is more of a design, whereas music is an art. It’s an emotion. When you listen to certain music—like, you might want to listen to Shade, which are love songs—it’s more you feeling sad or inspired or in love or whatever. You listen to hip hop because you want to feel a certain mood. When you go to a club to listen to certain music, you want to feel that way. It’s truly the mood that I’m in, which determines the music at that moment. So if I am depressed, I listen to a soft slow song. That’s truly how I would see it.
Does music influence your designs at all?
It doesn’t inspire my designing in any way at all. I think designing clothing is not an art form. It’s not that compelling. It’s not as moving. It’s not as powerful as music. Music actually gives you the emotions; it makes you feel a certain way. I don’t see that clothing actually can do that for you. It’s a bit more superficial, I would say, to a certain degree. But it’s reality. Its life.
Any final words for the readers?
Just do what you love, you know?! It’s your life. As far as I know, when the lights go out, the lights go out. So I know I have this one life. You don’t want to go through life doing something that you don’t want to do. You just gotta go for it and live the life that you want to live and don’t let anything stop you.
Thank you, Eric, and much success to you!”
For more on Eric Kim and MIK CIRE, please refer to the following articles:
Eric Kim Debuts MIK CIRE at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week
ERIC KIM MIK CIRE & Mercedes Benz Fashion Week
ERIC KIM, MIK CIRE & the Doughboy Collection at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week
Photos Copyright Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.
