Soonjin Park is the designer behind Kai-aakmann – a line of sharp, deconstructed mens and womenswear inspired by youth and street culture, as well as nature.
Born in Seoul, Park studied fashion design in college and started designing for Morris Coming Home after graduation. She soon launched her own collection, Eloq, before joining Kai-aakmann in 2007.
Park’s approach to fashion is refreshing and thoroughly modern, prefering a “genderless aesthetic” to each of her pieces. The idea is to create a clean, minimal and essential wardrobe for both men and women, with pieces tailored just so, free from uncessary embellishments or frills. A double-breasted jacket looks classic on a man, but strong and modern on his female counterpart. Similarly, pleated chinos are neither too formal or too butch, providing a perfect everyday alternative to jeans.
We asked Park to take part in our online series about “Things That Never Go Out of Style” (sort of like a corduroy jacket, hence our magazine name). Here is her “top ten” list:
1. Electronic music (Louie Vega’s ‘House Masters’ and ‘Back in the Box’)
2. Friends
3. Trees and plants
4. Pencils
5. Sunset
6. Egon Schiele’s paintings
7. Clubbing
8. Late Heath Ledger’s movie, Candy
9. Pants
10. World history
Kai-aakmann is sold at designer department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus as well as independent retailers such as Oak in New York, Fred Segal in Los Angeles.
I love this brands aesthetic and this woman’s approach. I recently bought a jacket from them and it is so perfectly modern. It has all the details of a luxe designed jacket and even more, allowing me to perfectly transition from freezing cold winter to windy spring and fall with it’s adjustable lining and detachable hood, both mostly unnecessary for the later seasons.Sleek with a certain refinement or rather classic look. It’s discrete details keep it from looking to showy and with this quality equally far away from the ranks of cheap knock-offs we see so much of.