Interview with fashion designer Timur Kim
The young British designer sits down with Culture Whisper's India Doyle to discuss his work and London life
Photo by Nikolay Biryukov
Designer Timur Kim moved to London when he was 17. The St Petersburg native gained a place to study under the late, great Louise Wilson and graduated from the prestigious Central St Martins Fashion MA course. With the Chloe Award and the Pringle Award already to his name, he went on to found his eponymous label in 2012 which has since received much critical acclaim.
Generation Y in particular will be familiar with the Timur Kim selfie. The brand became a viral sensation earlier this year when the team created 'selfie' friendly tee-shirts.
'I was sitting and taking a selfie and Timur said ‘don’t take my picture’ and I was like ‘you wish’' says Ruslan, head of marketing for the brand.' But then [Timur] started thinking how clothes are unnoticed in this new instagram age.'
The result was a collection of tee-shirts with bold designs that sit just below the neck, thereby showing up in ‘selfies’.
'I think as designers we should react to new technologies; time is changing and we are going forward. It’s a natural reaction to work with what we have' says Timur. This philosophy is clearly a success as the teeshirts were picked up by style.com and posted on BuzzFeed. 'That was the whole idea and we achieved what we wanted to achieve.'
photo from buro247
Aside from this internet success, Timur’s work is characterised by an innate understanding of the female figure. His silhouette is long, elegant and structured. The designer is also giving denim a new lease of life. In the S/S 15 collection denim skirts and tee-shirts are pleated in a style reminiscent of Issey Miyake, whilst jackets and trousers consist of bright denim patchwork. The next collection promises to see further experiments with the medium as denim will be knitted with other fabrics.
Timur made his first dress out of denim at the age of 15, and he says of the material that 'it is a very humble fabric: it can be translated into more feminine silhouettes. There are many more aspects of denim drape and how the denim moves. I see the possibilities in denim to be developed further because at the moment it is so underused.'
Quickfire
Culture Whisper paid a visit to the designer's studio over in trendy Dalston to catch up on his cultural preferences.
CW: Which city is best for fashion designers, in terms of working and inspiration?
TK: Something between London and Paris. There is a lot of communication between the cities. I can live between both but Paris is more influential as a city - all the baroque!
CW: What is your design inspiration?
TK: Copy of a copy of a copy of a copy!
CW: What three pieces are on your autumn / winter wishlist?
TK: I don’t know! I’m always wearing jeans and sweaters and some sort of boots. Maybe some long coat, black double breasted coats...I
never wear coats but I do like them, I would like to wear coats, double breasted coats.
CW: What are your top Cultural Events in London?
TK: I’m not doing gigs, that’s for sure. I still need to go and see Malevich. There’s not that much happening in London now. I do remember before there was a lot of good things,, like Anish Kapur, there was all these great exhibitions but now...
CW: You should read Culture Whisper...What was the last book you read?
TK: I read a lot on fashion. The last book was probably something by Virginia Woolf.
CW: What is your favourite street in London?
TK: There are a couple places I like: Charing Cross road, because of St Martins, has so many good memories and I also love Hampstead Heath.
CW: What are you favourite websites or apps?
TK: Style.com, Glitché and instagram!
To shop the latest collections and find out more about the designer visit http://www.timurkim.com/
Generation Y in particular will be familiar with the Timur Kim selfie. The brand became a viral sensation earlier this year when the team created 'selfie' friendly tee-shirts.
'I was sitting and taking a selfie and Timur said ‘don’t take my picture’ and I was like ‘you wish’' says Ruslan, head of marketing for the brand.' But then [Timur] started thinking how clothes are unnoticed in this new instagram age.'
The result was a collection of tee-shirts with bold designs that sit just below the neck, thereby showing up in ‘selfies’.
'I think as designers we should react to new technologies; time is changing and we are going forward. It’s a natural reaction to work with what we have' says Timur. This philosophy is clearly a success as the teeshirts were picked up by style.com and posted on BuzzFeed. 'That was the whole idea and we achieved what we wanted to achieve.'
photo from buro247
Aside from this internet success, Timur’s work is characterised by an innate understanding of the female figure. His silhouette is long, elegant and structured. The designer is also giving denim a new lease of life. In the S/S 15 collection denim skirts and tee-shirts are pleated in a style reminiscent of Issey Miyake, whilst jackets and trousers consist of bright denim patchwork. The next collection promises to see further experiments with the medium as denim will be knitted with other fabrics.
Timur made his first dress out of denim at the age of 15, and he says of the material that 'it is a very humble fabric: it can be translated into more feminine silhouettes. There are many more aspects of denim drape and how the denim moves. I see the possibilities in denim to be developed further because at the moment it is so underused.'
Quickfire
Culture Whisper paid a visit to the designer's studio over in trendy Dalston to catch up on his cultural preferences.
CW: Which city is best for fashion designers, in terms of working and inspiration?
TK: Something between London and Paris. There is a lot of communication between the cities. I can live between both but Paris is more influential as a city - all the baroque!
CW: What is your design inspiration?
TK: Copy of a copy of a copy of a copy!
CW: What three pieces are on your autumn / winter wishlist?
TK: I don’t know! I’m always wearing jeans and sweaters and some sort of boots. Maybe some long coat, black double breasted coats...I
never wear coats but I do like them, I would like to wear coats, double breasted coats.
CW: What are your top Cultural Events in London?
TK: I’m not doing gigs, that’s for sure. I still need to go and see Malevich. There’s not that much happening in London now. I do remember before there was a lot of good things,, like Anish Kapur, there was all these great exhibitions but now...
CW: You should read Culture Whisper...What was the last book you read?
TK: I read a lot on fashion. The last book was probably something by Virginia Woolf.
CW: What is your favourite street in London?
TK: There are a couple places I like: Charing Cross road, because of St Martins, has so many good memories and I also love Hampstead Heath.
CW: What are you favourite websites or apps?
TK: Style.com, Glitché and instagram!
To shop the latest collections and find out more about the designer visit http://www.timurkim.com/
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