Lookbook Magazine by David Vu Van

Look

SPRING / SUMMER 2013 ISSUE 1

book

SPRING / SUMMER 2013 ISSUE 1

Look

book

A MAGAZINE FOR EMERGING FASHION DESIGNERS

MASTHEAD

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

CONTENTS

Chapter I - Speaking Wayne Lee of Wayne ....................................... 8 Siki Im of Siki Im ............................................. 16

Chapter II - Looking Wayne S/S 2013 ........................................... XX 15 Questions ................................................ XX Siki Im S/S 2013 ........................................... XX Globalization ................................................ XX

Chapter III - Reading Style.com Review I ...................................... XX Style.com Review II ..................................... XX 4

Chapter I

Speaking

Wayne Lee of Wayne ............ 8 Siki Im of Siki Im ................. 16

1 - SPEAKING

Wayne Lee of Wayne Speaking with David Vu Van

Photography by Anthony Duong 8

1 - SPEAKING

WAY N E L E E O F WAY N E

Vietnamese-born designer Wayne Lee of Wayne was set to pursue a medical career before leaving University of California, Berkeley during her second year for a fashion-focused life in New York City. Lee’s creative aspirations led her to Barneys New York, where she got her start in sales before quickly rising up the ranks to buyer. Soon enough, Barneys’ love for luxury clothing rubbed off, and the self-taught designer embarked on a design career of her own. Just a year after launching her namesake collection in 2007, Lee was awarded the prestigious Ecco Domani Fashion Fund award, exposing her designs to the runway for the first time. Below, the mom-to-be describes her journey from selling clothes at Barneys, to having her clothes sold at Barneys. DVV: How did you make the transition DVV: Your recent collection draws inspifrom buyer to designer? ration from a recent trip to Anguilla in the Caribbean. What struck you about WL: With a lot of encouragement from my the island? peers and family. I’ve always had this sense of creativity in the back of my head and enjoyed WL: While I was there I learned an important making things. I come from a family of tailors lesson about tropical dressing. I brought all of and garment makers; my mom made clothes my black clothing and I was so out of place. In for me when I was growing up, so I was used to Anguilla you have to wear color, and naturally the idea of clothes being constructed. When I I began to notice the colors of the island itself, was working at Barneys, luxury clothing always such as a neon green which I named “kelp,” surrounded me, which was a great stimulus for like the seaweed. Memories of the sea also lent creating my own line. When the opportunity themselves to a blue and yellow print featuring presented itself, I jumped at the chance to do sea anemones. For the silhouettes I worked with my signature sporty separates, such as a something more challenging and creative. baseball jacket in a mesh combo and basketDVV: Does your Vietnamese background ball shorts in a “denim” leather. influence your designs? DVV: What type of woman do you design WL: My journey from Vietnam to the States for? inspires my designs more than anything. My family left Vietnam on a small boat of 500 WL: I design for the kind of woman who has people and landed on an island off the coast her own sense of style and appreciates qualof the Philippines, where we lived for an entire ity and longevity in clothing. I try to preserve a year before being rescued. The experience has classic look. I want my clothes to always stay shaped the person I’ve become and who I am in season and not just be a trendy thing. When as a designer. Being on that island makes me you buy Wayne, it stays in your closet forever think how I can make clothes that become a and you can wear it and make it your own. part of you, that are comfortable and durable, travel well, and have value and longevity.

I - SPEAKING

WAY N E L E E O F WAY N E

DVV: Tell us about the walnut jewelry enjoy your body as it changes. You’ll always collaboration with your boyfriend, artist find something that works. Eric Fertman. DVV: Let’s talk Barneys New York. Tell WL: We’ve always wanted to work together, and us about your experiences there starting it just felt right with my design surrounding the with your first position as a sales associAnguilla island. I wanted to work with natural ate. How was it? elements, something that would be organic to the collection. Since Eric is a sculptor, I asked WL: It was Barneys that showed me fashion. It him to incorporate sculpture into a finer scale. was my first fashion job, and I was surroundHe was able to translate his work into one-of- ed by beautiful clothes and beautiful people. It a-kind jewelry, resulting in these beautiful, little was the best learning environment for a fashsculptures. ion novice. As a sales associate, I learned how

WL: I like science fiction novels, so Phillip K. beginning. Dick, William Gibson, and Neal Stephenson. Pair that with alternative and electronic music DVV: What is your favorite fashion-relatand contemporary technology and you could ed memory so far? begin to understand my aesthetic. WL: I would have to say now will be my favorDVV: When you aren’t designing, what ite memory. I am about to have a baby and it’s just going to be really nice to be able to see do you like to do? all of my family and friends after the collecWL: I enjoy spending summers at Eric’s par- tion is presented. It will be a great moment of ents’ house at Cape Cod. They have this little knowing that I just had a baby and a wonderful cottage on the beach. I like to lull around the collection. I would say that will be my favorite fashion-related memory so far. beach, collect myself and my thoughts.

to interact well with customers on a one-onDVV: How would you describe your style? one basis and how to style outfits for them. I even helped Eddie Izzard pick out some Diane WL: My personal style is very simple, comvon Furstenburg dresses. prised of high-quality garments that last. I like things that are classic with a little edge. I tend DVV: That is amazing. Fast-forward a to stick with a black, white and grey palette, few years and now you’re a buyer for and I wear pretty much the same thing all the Barneys. What was the experience like time. then? DVV: You’re a mom-to-be! Has pregnancy changed your personal style or your WL: In the buying department, I learned about what sells well in regards to colors, fits, fabriapproach to design? cations, prices and merchandising. I can never WL: I don’t like a lot of color, although my mom forget about my time on the floor as a sales tells me to wear more color now that I’m preg- associate, though. My sales-associate colnant. She jokes that dark clothes will keep the leagues used to address me as Miss Juanita baby asleep the first week after he is born! And Jenkins, a nickname they gave me. I’m not my approach to design has changed a little bit; sure why they chose this name, but I still think it’s given me more perspective into the body. it’s pretty funny. I’m more conscious of comfort level and using DVV: Now Wayne as a designer, if you fabrics for a range of people. Right now, all I weren’t a designer, what would you do? have is my back; it’s the only part I like to show off; so next season you’ll see a lot of garments where we kept the back in mind. WL: I’ve always wanted to go into writing short fiction novels. That’s something that I thought DVV: What’s your best advice to moms about in undergrad, but just never had the guts who are hoping to maintain (or even en- to pursue. For me it’s something I consider hance) their style during pregnancy? luxurious. Maybe later on in life I can do something like that. WL: Don’t be afraid to wear what you want to wear. Sometimes you think, “Oh, I can’t wear DVV: Who are your favorite authors if that, I’m a mom!” But you have to have fun and you have any?

DVV: Who is your style icon and would you like to one day collaborate with them on a project? WL: I don’t really have a particular one. My style icon is someone who is very independent. She knows what she likes and what she doesn’t like. She’s also very intellectual and spirited. As for collaborating I’ve been doing so with a lot of artists and I want to keep on going in that direction each season. Just continue with the collaborations, whether it be a print or jewelry as hand-carved objects. I know that next season I would like to collaborate with someone on a different scale. This time I collaborated with a painter, last time I collaborated with a sculptor, so maybe I can find an artist who works in other mediums. I like keeping it interesting and refreshing. DVV: What is your first fashion-related memory? WL: A long time ago when I was in grad school in San Francisco I had a part-time job at Club Monaco. With my entire first paycheck I went to Prada and bought a pair of shoes I saw from the window. It was one of those moments where I was like, “Wow! I just spent my entire paycheck on a pair of shoes.” That stood out as a big fashion-related moment for me in the

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WAY N E L E E O F WAY N E

I - SPEAKING

Siki Im of Siki Im Speaking with David Vu Van

Photography by Anthony Duong 16

I - SPEAKING

SIKI IM OF SIKI IM

Siki Im is a German-born graduate of Oxford School of Architecture. He moved to New York City in 2001 to begin working in the fashion industry for Karl Lagerfeld and Helmut Lang. In 2010 he won the prestigious Ecco Domani Fashion Fund award that provided his first fashion show at Bryant Park. In his recent collection, which he presented at Lincoln Center, Im commented on politics surrounding the Arab Spring by embedding the cultural elements of the region into the defining details of his garments. As in previous collections, his classic-yet-modern tailoring is still at the fore, and his reworking of a classic fabric like denim gives the collection a refreshingly casual vibe. Below, Im talks to us about his experiences as a designer of a menswear brand based in New York City.

DVV: As an architect, how did the transi- Ando who didn’t go to school for architecture; you must be an alien to do so, kind of tion to fashion happen for you? weird. Fashion is much faster, more emoSI: I didn’t really plan to become a fashion de- tional. Seeing that architecture projects take signer. An architect, in my opinion, is a design- a few years, you produce a collection in fasher who primarily designs spaces. So, physical- ion twice a year; it’s a whole different mindly, they design buildings but they also design set. The energy, the dynamics, it’s all very difother things, like the program of the space, ferent, but I learned proportions through my how spaces interact with one another, the studies in architecture, and it’s so different, movement, and how people inhabit the space scale-wise, in fashion. There aren’t many aror use it. They don’t just design mere objects chitects that shift to fashion. It also has to do but actually a concept more than an object. with being in New York City, people are much When I was a student in architecture, or may- more open and you can change quickly. In be even before that, I was interested in a lot of Europe, it’s much more rigid, very structured, things, not just buildings. But I knew on top of you can’t just move around. That’s the beauall that I would always love fashion. I never re- ty of New York City. That’s why we’re all here. ally thought I wanted to do fashion, I just liked DVV: You mentioned in an interview in what fashion designers were doing and the ex2010 that you felt trapped by literary refpression, and then I accidentally fell into it. erences, and your recent inspiration was the topography of globalization. I think DVV: It makes sense to me that an aryou signaled in your first season that chitect switched to fashion, because arbooks influence you. Did you come back chitecture is art and science at the same to the literary reference again in your time, and there is a technical element to most recent collection? fashion. Did you learn those things on your own? SI: Yes, I was then reading The Cultures of SI: In my opinion – and I teach now at Parsons Globalization by Fredric Jameson. I love the – the only reason you go to a university is either fact that everything is somehow related. Evto become more disciplined or to get a quali- ery collection is literary. I was also very interfication. But there are architects like Tadao ested in anthropologists and philosophers like

I - SPEAKING

Jean Baudrillard, Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault, and Fredric Jameson, all talking about contemporary culture. That’s why I read that book and used it as an inspiration. It’s very cool that you found that out. One of the reasons that I used the literature is because of what’s currently happening in the Middle East. My third collection, the “Isolation Immigration” collection, was based on the movie La Haine, by French screenwriter and director Mathieu Kassovitz. It was very personal because of the way I grew up as a Korean immigrant in Germany. I would listen to American hip-hop, I would skateboard and do graffiti, and these are all little references in my work.

was very short. I didn’t want to write a long text about the concept. It’s, again, another trap. People expect me to write a long concept and I just wrote two sentences about the collection. It’s not about the concept; it’s just about the shapes, colors, and spirituality – that’s it. However, for my recent collection I wrote a long statement again. I want to get more ideas from what my inspiration is – the Middle East – but when I design, I guess I subconsciously use references from my own references, which I cannot control. I don’t think it’s just design that I like, it’s the sensibility, the culture. DVV: What has working with two major designers brought to you personally? Has it made you more sensible to fashion, or on the contrary, has it blurred your vision of the industry? What were your experiences like?

DVV: How was it growing up in Germany as an Korean immigrant? SI: I didn’t have many Asian friends; they were mostly German, Eastern European, or Turkish. I grew up in a so-so neighborhood, but I went to grammar school. I was always in two different worlds, there was always a dichotomy. I think you can see all of this in my collection. There is always a clash; that’s me in a way: a good clash. First was the “American Psycho” collection, in which you could see the downfall of Wall Street; that’s when the recession was really bad. In that same collection I was using soft materials with hard, strong lines, reminiscent of hardcore culture. There is always a certain social dichotomy, which I’m really interested in. Soft and hard come together and create a certain newness, and I don’t really know what it is. That’s what I love; I love exploring.

SI: I think what I’ve learned from both of them is that it’s a business. You have to be smart and creative; you really have to protect yourself and your ideas as well. I’ve also learned to believe in myself. There is a fine line between art and progress; you have to look at the numbers. They wanted to create something special, and I think both of them did that really well. DVV: Have you ever questioned your decision to work in this industry with these two designers, considering the fact that a lot of people have a vision of working with them as being very stressful, very impersonal?

DVV: Your last collection, “Silent Thun- SI: When I was working with Karl, it was stressderbird Prayer,” was very well received. ful because I was young and I wanted to do What are your feelings on that? good work, so I worked really hard. It was intense, but both designers were really cool. That SI: I was going through a very spiritual time was the funny thing; it’s not what people think. and I wasn’t thinking of a concept, or a book. I People weren’t bitching, it was really creative was just thinking of myself, and how I wanted and everyone really wanted the same thing. to represent my spirituality; that’s why the text

SIKI IM OF SIKI IM

DVV: You also introduced denim. What is your thought process behind the American sportswear references found in this collection?

DVV: A lot of your collections have been accompanied by films. Do you have an interest in the Internet as a presentation medium?

SI: The hardest thing to design in menswear, in my opinion, is a tailored denim jean. The reason jeans are so difficult is because of all the washing processes, the chemicals, the shrinkages and all these other things. People think, “they’re just jeans, right?” but designing them is not that easy. On the other hand, going back to the globalization influence in this collection, the indigo blue was a metaphor for western culture, and the black was a metaphor for the countries that have oil. I tried to put it together in a stylish way.

SI: I’m a huge fan of William Gibson and William Mitchell, who both predicted a long time ago that virtual reality will become more and more real – which it is. The Internet is great and dangerous at the same time – we can lose ourselves if we’re not aware. It is a tool, not a substitute. As long as we can use all our senses, we need to explore all worlds.

DVV: Do you have any plans to venture into women’s wear or accessories? SI: I’m thinking of designing accessories again. I designed women’s wear for Lagerfeld and Lang, and I have clear intentions to do women’s wear. Not too far from now, but also not too soon. DVV: Would you say you’re trying to design “smart” clothes? SI: I hope my customer is more sophisticated. It doesn’t mean intellectual, it doesn’t mean academic except for an appreciation for more than what meets the eye. It’s deeper than what you see; even my clothes, like my blazers, are fully hand-tailored. The buckles are all hand sewn. There’s a reason you pay a certain price; everything is made of natural fibers, no polyester. DVV: Is it all produced in America? SI: Everything is produced in America, mostly in the Garment District of New York City. More and more designers are depending on it.

I - SPEAKING

SIKI IM OF SIKI IM

Chapter II

Looking

Wayne S/S 2013 ................. 15 Questions ...................... Siki Im S/S 2013 ................. Globalization ......................

XX XX XX XX

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15 Questions by Wayne Photography by Jeremy Williams 26

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1 5 Q U E S T I O N S B Y WAY N E

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1 5 Q U E S T I O N S B Y WAY N E

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1 5 Q U E S T I O N S B Y WAY N E

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1 5 Q U E S T I O N S B Y WAY N E

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15 Questions

Film by Daniel Oh

Featuring Lily Pickett

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15 QUESTIONS

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The Topography of Globalization by Siki Im Photography by John Doe XX

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T H E T O PO G RAPHY O F G LO BALI ZAT I O N BY S I K I I M

For his Spring / Summer 2013 collection, Siki Im was inspired by the topic of globalization and its political implication. The geopolitical climate started to change rather quickly during the development of the collection and evolved into what we now know as the Arab Spring. This inspired Im to see his collection as a reflection of the motions in the Middle East. The silhouettes of this collection propose an intersection of these cultures. The Middle East is referenced in draping, knotting, and wrapping of fabric. These elements are then integrated with the notion of the West, which can be seen in the constructed and deconstructed t-shirts, blazers, and especially in the jeans. This season Im introduced DEN IM, a capsule of three different jeans that come in three self-engineered washes fabricated and produced with a selvedge quality from the states. The washes of the denim and the print of the fabrics are inspired by the deteriorating environments affected by war in the Middle East. The entire collection is made in the states with fabric from the United Kingdom, Italy, and Japan.

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T H E T O PO G RAPHY O F G LO BALI ZAT I O N BY S I K I I M

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T H E T O PO G RAPHY O F G LO BALI ZAT I O N BY S I K I I M

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T H E T O PO G RAPHY O F G LO BALI ZAT I O N BY S I K I I M

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The Topography of Globalization Film by Robert Hamada

Featuring RJ King, Louis Mayhew, Berthold Rothas, Jesse Shannon, Bradley Soileau

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