Siki Im Menswear A/W11

For Autumn Winter, Siki Im offered a tranquil and sombre spirituality with soft, textured tailoring as Native American songs echoed around the presentation room and soil reminded observers of Mother Earth. Having been inspired by the works of Native American pottery artist, Maria Martinez, Im delivered a collection of muted hues grounded in the wonders of nature. With an enthused nod to Martinez's black ware pottery, the designer experimented with shape and texture inspired by the elements. Quadrupled layers of wool, cashmeres, swiss felts and waxed cottons combine to protect the wearer as the winter elements draw near whilst the white rabbit felt hats shield and shelter the head. 

Eclipse jewellery created in collaboration with Made by Eugene adorns the body in powder coated amulets in silver which pay homage to Native American charms. Throughout the sixteen looks, there is a happy union between the Siki Im man with the Native American spirit. This is no more apparent that in the collaboration with a fifth generation Native American weaver and her mother for a section of beautiful hand woven knits.

Dazed Digital: Congratulations on creating a beautiful presentation, it was a great way to end the day. Could you tell us a little about the inspiration behind it?
Siki Im: I don't think I'm quite ready for a show because this is only my fourth collection. Whenever we do a presentation I don't want to make it feel awkward in any way. Every season I want it to be more dynamic and interactive to engage the audience with models and designs.

DD: Your presentations are always so memorable. Within the collection itself your influences are quite subtle but here they were at the fore. Was this your intention?
Siki Im: On the one hand I want to make it subtle but it still needs to be understandable and I think the presentation achieved this. For last season, it was all about the youth culture and immigrants of Europe and we did the presentation in a parking garage and some people got it and some didn't. This season, as the space is quite normal I wanted to make it more obvious with the soil and a feeling of going back to Mother Earth.

DD: The work of Native American pottery artist Maria Martinez inspired you. How did her work influence your designs?
Siki Im: The beautiful thing about her work was that is very much about the silhouette of the ceramics. She didn't use much colour so shape and texture was central to her work. She created these almost perfect round shapes and charcoal engravings. This season, I didn't want it to be conceptual and instead focused on creating beautiful silhouettes.

DD: The collection showcases comfort and protection against the elements...
Siki Im: Exactly. There is something so comforting about the dark, earthy, wooly fabrics and then there are elements of quilting which do feel so protective.

DD: Could you tell us a bit about the collaborations?
Siki Im: Once again for this season, we worked with Heather Huey for the hats and with my good friend Eugene for the jewellery. Last season we worked with leather and here, I wanted to create beautiful silver jewellery and took inspiration from Native American amulets. I work with good people and we understand each other so we don't need to explain too much, it makes everything so easy.

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