It might be a bitch to iron, but Hun Kim’s latest white shirt for Karl Lagerfeld, extra long and cut like a tailcoat, is completely on brand, unexpected – and a chic, alternative way of dressing for evening over a pair of glossy black trousers, or a croc-textured miniskirt.
In search of a nifty narrative for his fall collection, something Lagerfeld was a wiz at, the design director settled on an escape to the mountains, inspired after flipping through some ’80s magazines and being reminded how formality and elegance once reigned at alpine resorts and après-ski festivities.
“I think somehow we lost that kind of sensibility, of how people used to dress up. Everything became very casual,” Kim commented.
To be sure, Lagerfeld never tired of tailoring, white shirts and neat LBDs, which Kim refreshed with intricate seaming and bursts of volume.
“I love Karl’s drawings. He always the focused on the shoulder,” said Kim, who settled on pagoda shoulders, rounded sleeves and off-the-shoulder necklines on tailoring and dresses.
He’s a fan of transformable garments, so a black sequin minidress can be worn with or without its black silk overskirt, which remains open at the front to give a glimpse of the legs. Meanwhile, a faux-fur bolero and a long vest in double-faced wool can be worn separately or together as a textural trench.
In recent years, Kim has eased up on cartoonish emblems of the brand – including the Choupette character – and logos have become more subliminal, like the KL coin peeking out from penny loafers, part of a forthcoming collaboration with American heritage brand G.H. Bass, which – like Karl Lagerfeld – is controlled by G-III Apparel Group.
