Korean designer Kathleen Kye proved through her FW15 collection, showcased during New York Fashion Week at Pier 59 Studios, that she loves taking risks and pushing the envelope in a meaningful way. The collection was designed to fit more than one genders, and besides eye-catching women’s, one couldn’t but notice mind-blowing unconventional menswear that women are craving to adopt it too!
She is quite in the spirit of blurring the lines and creating clothes coveted by all, qualified to be part of anyone’s closet. A nice leather Bermuda short and a great quality faux fur sweater has no gender or category to be confined to. Balanced quirkiness, freedom, symbolism, ideas expressed through clothes, but also interesting craftsmanship lies behind this hipster chic collection that gives us some statement pieces to inhabit our wardrobe for a long time.
The basic concept has to do with fortune, risk, gambling, and the possibilities to lose or win. As the designer explains, people play cards and put coins in slot machines to hit the jackpot. Just for fun or out of desperation, they bet on pure luck which inevitably leads to erroneous results. Without luck, our life becomes dull, but if some youths lack in hard tries at life and hang on to the kind of lifestyle for fluke, then their life’s realistic probability becomes null. They eventually become losers in life.
But this is also a moment of truth for KYE’s fashion for its FW 2015 collection. KYE catches the symbols and images of luck – trump, fruits, tokens, 7s and slot machine emblems – with its usual sense of humor by displaying them on various parts of the collection.
The designer presents different types of color palettes for various effects and introduces new techniques in pattern-making: the “grass” embroidery, acrylic studding and customized ribbing. Materials also reveal diverse sources, including manipulated velvet, cotton, faux fur and denim. KYE delivers the fashion’s symbol for the losers by offering new retro styling in contrast to its usual experimental offerings in previous collections. Perhaps, this points to KYE’s new direction in its fashion business.
The show featured music by The Misshapes, styling by Lysa Cooper, makeup by Dick Page for Shiseido, hair by Matthew Curtis for TRESemme and nails by Rose Velez-Miggins for Tat’z Nail’z. VIP attendees included rapper 2 Chainz, Leigh Lezark (The Misshapes), Nigel & Cristen Barker, and more.
I was quite impressed by her inventiveness and ability to turn the literal theme into something wearable and very sophisticated with unexpected classic undertone. The combination of different textures and motifs was subtle and elegant and the mix of casual and dressy items evoked artistic confidence!
Love!!!
Elena Sendona
