IISEIISEIISEIISEIISEIISE
IISEIISEIISEIISEIISEIISE
IISEIISEIISEIISEIISEIISE
IISEIISEIISEIISEIISEIISE
IISE Is Redefining Traditional Korean Aesthetics
Brothers Terrence and Kevin Kim sit down to discuss the brand’s methodology.
When one thinks of South Korea, it’s easy to think of the hypermodern metropolis of Seoul, the home of tech titan Samsung and the global K-Pop phenomenon. But underneath that facade, grassroots initiatives from the worlds of fashion, music, and art that are reshaping the nation’s creative outlook. IISE, which is made up of six devoted individuals and led by brothers Terrence and Kevin Kim, is a part of these efforts to reimagine the country’s history. The brand’s strict design ethos seeks to combine both traditional and modern sensibilities, showcasing its Korean origins through a meticulous lens.
After graduating from university in the United States in the late 2000s, Korean-American brothers Terrence and Kevin Kim set out to pursue their passions through the creation of a footwear company. The two had no formal design knowledge, though they were already devoted sneakerheads and streetwear fans. After visiting their family’s homeland of Korea shortly after starting the sneaker brand, the two decided to restructure their vision around their roots.
IISE, whose name is Korean for “second generation,” was built on the brothers’ beginnings as second-generation Korean-Americans. But the name is also apt in describing the label’s design methodology. A glance at IISE’s catalog reveals a clear theme. From references to traditional architecture in the clothing’s paneled construction, to contemporary takes on traditional hanbok garments and the use of yeomsaek dyeing processes, every detail incorporates an element of Korean culture – even the tags are printed on hanji paper. Nestled in the mountains just north of downtown Seoul, the brand’s studio conveys these motifs, with tables and light fixtures made from repurposed hanok doors.
It wasn’t until the Fall/Winter 2011 season when Terrence and Kevin revealed their methodological take on Korean design through bags. As the brand grew, so did the duo’s vision. In 2015, the brothers delved into the realm of clothing, releasing a small clothing capsule that offered a contemporary twist on traditional Korean aesthetics. After garnering substantive attention, the brand took its vision to New York Fashion Week for the Spring/Summer 2019 season, and earlier this year the brothers held their first runway show at Seoul Fashion Week.
IISE has found success within fashion both globally and locally, and the brand’s goal remains to bring a slice of Korean society and culture to the world. The label doesn’t define itself as “just a fashion brand,” instead preferring to be called a design house, as Terrence and Kevin’s vision goes beyond garments.
To understand the ideas that energizes IISE, HYPEBEAST recently sat down with Terrence and Kevin Kim to discuss their brand’s past, present and future.
How is Korean culture specifically interpreted within your design process?
Terrence: Our first bag collection was inspired by the bags that monks were wearing on the street – we’d never seen those types of bags. When we were traveling around the country we were also exposed to various traditional fabrics and dyeing techniques. That was the main inspiration for the collection, but we gave it our own twist in order to be more appealing to a younger, more global streetwear audience.
“From the very beginning it was about applying this concept of infusing traditional and modern Korean elements into everything.”
Kevin: We always wanted to do clothing – I think that was always where we saw the brand evolving. When we started IISE we really had no idea how to do anything, we just did bags because it was easier for us; there’s no sizing you have to worry about, you just make one piece and it’s done. After doing bags for about two years it was getting kind of boring trying to come up with new styles that were sellable, because during that time I think you couldn’t be very experimental with men’s bags – it was just us changing fabrics and colorways and that got repetitive. We always had ideas for clothing, but didn’t know how to go about doing it, so then 2015 came around and that’s when we decided to do our first foray into clothing. It was less than 10 styles, a very small range but we knew someone out here who had the resources to do clothing so we decided to give it a shot.
Terrence: When we developed the idea for IISE as a brand too, it wasn’t like, “We’re going to be a bag company, we’re going to be a clothing company.” From the very beginning it was about applying this concept of infusing traditional and modern Korean elements into everything, whether it be furniture, stationary, kitchenware, we’ve always wanted to take our ethos to everything. Bags were just the starting point. But moving forward we’re going to transition further into new territories under that same concept.
How did the brand evolve from bags into clothing?
A lot of your collections examine Korean society and culture, could you speak on that?
Kevin: When we first started, a lot of the inspiration we took from Korea was tangible – from utilizing Korean natural dye to certain types of Korean cotton like mu myung. I think it kind of shows the progression of our understanding of Korea and the locale, so at first you’ll see a lot of things that are tangible, things that you can see. But moving on to every other season we’re doing it’s much less about a tangible inspiration and is directly orchestrated from a concept or idea. Two seasons ago it was about protest – it’s tangible but also an experience we encountered here in Seoul – a part ingrained in Korean culture that we thought we should highlight. With our recent Fall/Winter 2019 range it was based on a future idea of Korea, from the f*cked up air pollution to how technology is aiding in carrying Korea and its traditions forward.
Terrence: Yeah much more a concept than something that can just be seen.
Kevin: Our upcoming SS20 collection is about imagining IISE as a conglomerate company – it’s a spin on chaebols [conglomerate companies in Korea] and their impact and influence in Korean society, culture, and economics. Our idea revolves around IISE being this publicly traded conglomerate, so we thought how does this look, what goes into this. These conglomerates are in every aspect of society and economy, products and services from insurance to smartphones, vehicles, chemicals So we thought it would be a fun idea because we’re a small fashion company with six people, it’s fun to imagine us as this huge, massively influential chaebol. We made a list of all these subsidiary companies you can have, like insurance, chemical, pharmaceutical, etc. and we just picked three or four that would be the most interesting. The collection is divided up into these different subsidiaries we chose, and each of those reflect a different kind of mini-collection that adds up in the totality of it.
Terrence: Yeah, so you know like how corporations control everything, especially here, but they have this – trust us and we’ll take care of you guys, but the underbelly is super dark like “CCTV is constantly monitoring you,” and we have all your data and sh*t. It’s not just like a happy concept, so IISE corp here is portrayed as like, “Oh we’re gonna take care of you guys,” but it’s kind of like what corporations are really like.
Kevin: Nike isn’t anything concrete – but they’ve definitely been giving us all the footwear for our shows and such, starting off with a partnership but we’re hoping for a collaboration in the future or something.
Terrence: Yeah it’s an amazing first step for them even wanting to sponsor our shows like that.
You have talked previously about investors, and you also have Nike backing you as well as a recent pop-up with Under Armour. Could you speak on those partnerships?
Kevin: That’s like a direct representation of what we do – that’s something we saw interpreted in old school blankets and sh*t and we always saw that and just didn’t know. Bojagi is always hand-stitched and quilted with different fabrics, so from a manufacturing standpoint it is super expensive. We made it digitally and then did it through a modern manufacturing process, which tied in with the whole collection too, which was about taking these old traditions that generations of artisans have been showcasing and reimagined it in a way that would attract a younger audience. We thought about how technology is going to replicate and reimagine these old techniques in the future when these artisans don’t exist. That Bojagi piece was us flipping that and tying it into our concept and runway collection.
Last season you did a hanbok-inspired piece with bojagi stitching. How does that translate into IISE’s brand ethos?
“When we first started, a lot of the inspiration we took from Korea was tangible.”
Terrence: Pros and cons, just like every other city. For example, Korea is not our biggest market, we sell more overseas. I think that is because our brand is very Korean-inspired, so the local market is a bit more challenging for us, but at the same time because there's so much attention on Seoul right now. Just being based in the city is a huge conversation starter because of that – when we travel for work bringing that to the table alone is a big conversation starter for press or media. Con is definitely that though we are inspired by Korea, it's harder to penetrate here locally.
Kevin: I think every season the local audience approaches us differently because we are slowly penetrating the Korean market – they hear that our brand is doing Korean-inspired stuff and they’ve seen it in the past, but they haven’t necessarily been exposed to us. They have this preconceived notion from past experiences and seeing other brands but I think with our approach being different and with every season it's easier for Seoul to see our principles and values.
So moving into Seoul – what do you think of Seoul’s budding fashion scene? What do you feel are challenges here and abroad, especially when it comes to global expansion?
Kevin: Seoul is really lucky in that we have Dongdaemun market – this huge clothing epicenter which from my understanding other cities don’t have. So the proximity of where we can get materials is nice. When we were in China, I'd have to take a four-hour bus ride to the local market, hours to the factory. But Seoul has everything set geographically, it's very easy to get things made quickly. We have the fabric market out here and get everything sampled, patterned, manufactured within 30 minutes of us. We’ve manufactured everything in Korea now, but with scaling it's difficult to maintain price points, so we are looking elsewhere for more affordable manufacturing.
Could you describe your manufacturing process?
What kind of future projects or aspirations do you have for IISE?
Terrence: We’re talking to other big brands for collabs.
Kevin: Yeah lots of stuff in the works, and exhibition events especially. We’re really looking forward to our GORE-TEX partnership – like the event where we were worried about the experience more than the product itself was something really cool for us. So for future events we’re definitely going to throw more offline events that rely on the experience.
IISE
Terrence
Kevin Kim
yeomsaek dyeing processes
bags
New York Fashion Week
Seoul Fashion
Week
Nike
Under Armour
GORE-TEX
IISEIISEIISEIISEIISEIISE
Kim
IISEIISEIISEIISEIISEIISE
IISEIISEIISEIISEIISEIISE
IISEIISEIISEIISEIISEIISE