Siki Im Fall 2013: Beautifully reeling from apocalyptic predictions

Siki Im Fall 2013 - New York Fashion Week — The Siki Im Fall 2013 collection, titled “If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller,” partially drew from August Sander’s photographic portraits during the time of the Weimar Republic. (photo by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine)

Supposed predictions of an apocalypse last year swept aside, the mood at the Fall 2013 ready-to-wear collections in New York was nonetheless loaded with a lingering, anxious sense of dread. Nowhere was that more apparent than in Siki Im’s latest menswear offering. Held at the abandoned Cafe Rouge, itself an upscale culinary haunt in its heyday but now marked for demolition, Im’s carefully curated runway show drew from the ideas of security and a desire to guard oneself from the cruelties of the world.

More specifically, the outfits of Im’s countrymen from a century ago in the Korean, Germany-raised designer’s hometown of Cologne provided the visual cues for Fall 2013. Fabrics sourced from six different countries figured into 20 heavily-layered, highly-tailored looks, ranging from Mongolian cashmere knitwear to harem pants using wool typically found in Italian suits. Accompanying these more traditional pieces from that era were a few forward-thinking, but no less heavy, series of short, tightly fit aprons; occasional blinding shocks of silver foil; and asymmetrical shawls draped over the shoulders, trailing behind the models’ gaits. Quick in its execution – the show took just a few minutes to complete – but brilliant in its intent, the stunned audience took some time to recover before applauding Im. Here’s hoping the Mayans don’t have anything else up their sleeves so these pieces can hit the closets come winter.

Video: Siki Im Fall 2013 – New York Fashion Week