SOHO — Fashion designer Siki Im has come a long way since his first encounter with New York Fashion Week ten years ago.
"I was quite intimidated," Im said about seeing the tents when he first arrived to New York in 2001. "And I didn't go inside."
Now the award-winning designer is in his fifth season with his own brand name label, and is preparing for his first runway show to coordinate with this season's New York Fashion Week at Lincoln Center.
Im got his first taste inside the tents of Fashion Week last year as a 2010 recepient of the Ecco Domani award for Best Men's Wear.
The SoHo-based designer, who previously worked with bigwigs Helmut Lang and Karl Lagerfield, has been putting together multimedia installations for his four seasons since he launched his first solo collection in September 2009.
"It was very emotional, it was very exhilirating, it was very exciting, it was very everything," Im recalled about his first experience during Fashion Week. "Nervous, but at the end, I felt very good. And relieved.
Born in Cologne, Germany, the designer moved to the UK and studied architecture at the Oxford School of Architecture. After working as an architect in cities around the world, he shifted gears to become a fashion desiger, and eventually worked his way up to create his own men's label.
Although Im will not be in the tents this year, he will unveil his 2012 Spring Collection at a Friday night show in SoHo.
"I'm slowly starting to get a little excited," Im said about his new collection, which is based on current events and unrest in the Middle East. To reveal his theme, the designer is using "Middle Eastern-inspired volumes and silhouettes, mixed with Western silhouettes."
"It's very sociocritical, which I always like to touch on," the designer added. "It will be capturing the revolt/revolution with the challenges and changes."
It's not the first time the designer has touched upon foreign themes. His first season, launched for the Spring and Summer of 2010, was called Black Beat White Wonder and was based on the novel "Lord of the Flies."
"The island symbolizes a new era, a blank slate, where our society is invited to draw upon its resourcefulness, rediscovering traditional values, and processes of creation," Im said in his fashion "syllabus" about the collection. Featuring sculpted trousers, long vests, silk trench coats and bomber jackets, the line is meant to reflect the relationship between humanity, architecture and science.
His literary references continued for his Fall 2010 collection, "A New Era," which featured lapel-less jackets, quilted trenchcoats and irregular layers that were meant to invoke images of "American Pyscho."
Although the themes were heavy, he hoped they wouldn't be taken too seriously.
"I really like it when some people say my collections are funny, and I think it is, but most people think my designs are very serious and avant-garde," Im said. "I’m not sure about it, but I like when someone sees the humor in it, too."
It was his Fall/Winter 2011 collection that was most reflective of his personality, however. Donned "Silent Thunderbird Prayer," the meditative compendium is an array of hand-weaved kilts, large-brimmed hats, feathers and black-and-silver themes that reference Native American cultures and invoke images from the native land.
"I think what’s important is to be comfortable," Im reflected on his last season, and what he hopes to mantain throughout his entire collection in years to come.
"It means to have a certain confidence and knowledge. It means to have a certain tranquility, but also be strong and confident. I think that’s what I like to achieve with my collection."
Siki Im's Spring 2012 Collection will be launched at 150 Varick Street, on the Corner of Spring Street, Friday night at 9 p.m.
