CRES. E DIM. Fall 2015 – Seoul Fashion Week

With just seven years of professional design experience under his belt, Kim Hong-bum can already be considered a veteran in the South Korean fashion scene. An inauspicious debut – he was eliminated early in the first season of Project Runway Korea – actually led to quick success, including boutiques for his main label CRES. E DIM., a younger DIM. E CRES. streetwear-focused line, an overseas stockist presence (notably in mainland China and Hong Kong), and a couple of appearances at New York Fashion Week as part of the South Korean government’s Concept Korea initiative. Those womenswear showings in Manhattan particularly impressed with delicate fabrics forming structured silhouettes.

It was quite a surprise, then, to witness a departure from this aesthetic at the Seoul Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2015 collections. Although the title of Kim’s CRES. E DIM. ready-to-wear show, “TREINTA Y TRES,” paid homage to the 33 miners in Chile who survived the Copiapó underground tunnel collapse in 2010, the men’s and women’s offerings felt anything but celebratory. Relying on gimmicky touches such as patches and labels, the baggy monochromatic nature of the collection made one question what became of the determined elegance that marked Kim’s earlier work, with oversize sweaters and crop pants replacing definition. Despite the use of mixed textiles, and vibrant reds and blues, the entire collection overall felt too heavy, even for the season.

With Kim’s diffusion line and plenty (too many, in fact) of his fellow Seoul Fashion Week designers going the streetwear route, CRES. E DIM. needn’t follow suit. Hopefully in future seasons, Kim will return to the sophistication that first put him on the map.

A little less noise would have been preferred in the CRES. E DIM. Fall 2015 collection. (photo by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine)

Outfits from the CRES. E DIM Spring 2013 women’s collection at New York Fashion Week. The collection, Kim told Meniscus Magazine at the time, was inspired by “extreme weather…combining hurricanes and other disastrous events, so I could come up with sharp looks in my whole collection.” (photo by Kwai Chan / Meniscus Magazine)

Photos: CRES. E DIM. Fall 2015 – Seoul Fashion Week
all photos by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine