The menswear designer Siki Im has always had a compelling artistic bent, one that he took to new heights with his Fall 2014 collection, which was inspired by the avant-garde cultural and artistic movements of the Seventies. The clothes—nearly all black or shades of gray—had a rigorous power to them, and there was a slight Germanic feel to many of the designs, like Paul Boche’s strong leather biker jacket or Anders Hayward’s double-breasted blazer that splayed open at the bottom. The main material was wool, whether in thick weaves like Chris Beek’s ribbed robe or the raw felt—inspired by the Fluxus artist Joseph Beuys—that gave heft to Abel van Oeveren’s peacoat. There was a strong, elegant outerwear component as well, one that proved that Im’s thoughts were not just focused on the provocative youths of the period. Félix Gesnouin’s fur-collared overcoat had a classic Old World flair, and Yu Fangqing’s coat had a speckled look that was appropriately called “noise.” Im also, as is his wont, stretched the limits of the fashion show into performance art of a sort, as the illustrator Richard Haines, well-known for his runway sketches, took to several of the pieces backstage with white pastel, chalking faces, hands, and other figures onto the sturdy designs. A hand stretched playfully across the pocket of Miles Langford’s bomber jacket, an arm reached down the sleeve of Kristoffer Hasslevall’s blazer, and a face loomed from the back of Laurie Harding’s oversized coat. Watching Haines at work backstage, as he sketched closing model Adam Butcher’s hunched-over figure onto the back of a jacket, served as a powerful reminder that, for the most creative designers, the clothes you see coming down the runway reveal but a small fraction of the thought and effort that went into them.

Designer Siki Im
Styling by David Vandewal
Hair by James Pecis (London: D + V Management , New York: D + V Management)
Makeup by Benjamin Puckey (New York: D + V Management, London: D + V Management )
Casting by John Tan