Siki Im was born and raised in Cologne, Germany. After completing his Baccalaureate, he was drawn to architecture, and relocated to Great Britain, where he graduated with First Class Honors from the Oxford School of Architecture.
Having worked as an architect in various cities around the world, Siki Im moved to New York City in 2001 where he worked for the progressive architecture firm, Architectonics. Numerous projects later he decided to take a break from architecture, and move onto fashion design.
Siki Im was the Senior Designer for Karl Lagerfeld, and Helmut Lang. After years of designing for fashion houses, he thought that it was a good time to utilize his knowledge, as well as experiences in architecture, furniture, graphics, art, and music, manifesting it all into fabrics and shapes.
Brand Statement
“The work of an intellectual is not to mould the political will of others; it is, through the analyses that he does in his own field, to re-examine evidence and assumptions, to shake up habitual ways of working and thinking, to dissipate conventional familiarities, to re-evaluate rules and institutions and to participate in the formation of a political will (where he has his role as citizen to play).” - Michel Foucault
There are certain statements and sentences of poems that we come across during our younger years while studying, that may leave a deep impression on us, and that may influence our actions at a later moment in our lives, be it in a conscious or unconscious manner.
Siki Im feels this way about the meaning of this above cited anthropological statement of Michel Foucault, which he seems to bring to life in his design process:
Exploring the boundaries of institutional and conventional fashion and craftsmanship, he strives to reevaluate the existing landscape of high-end men’s wear. Hand-tailored blazers are at the core of his collection, surrounded by men’s wear pieces across all categories of tops, bottoms and outerwear.
The brand is indeed an exercise of exploration of traditional tailoring techniques and a “mise en oeuvre” of unique shapes, creating ergonomic volumes and unusual proportions within a sculptural approach.
Siki Im also draws his inspiration from artists like Gordon Matta Clark, Tatiana Trouve and Agnes Martin, to name a few. Their conceptual, visual and tactile influence can be felt in those carefully hand-tailored, artisan suits - employing the highest levels of craftsmanship and using the highest quality fabrics that embody the minimalist and refined aesthetic that will be the signature of the brand.
See the look book
here.
Photos & text Copyright SIKI IM, Courtesy Nouveau-PR.
