For those of you who aren’t familiar with Mr. Kevin SAER Leong, you may be familiar with the clothing that he has helped create.
Working with Russell Simmons during the height of the success of Phat Farm, some might argue that Kevin helped mold hip-hop fashion during the ’90s.
With a long history of working with clothing and a love for hip-hop, Kevin has decided to make history of his own by starting Origami, his clothing line named after the art of Chinese paper folding.
PHOTOS: Kevin Leong’s Origami At NYFW
With standout pieces that use elements of Tyvek and shredded U.S. currency, we are sure that Kevin’s brand has only just begun to get off of the ground and we look forward to much more in the coming seasons.
We spoke to Kevin about his Origami collection and his inspirations and thought process behind Origami, which made its debut at the Samsung Space in the Time Warner Center during 2011 New York Fashion Week.
GlobalGrind: What’s going on, Kev!
Kevin SAER Long: What up! It’s Kevin Saer, Young Slanty, aka Young Grasshopper, aka Salvatore Ferragami, aka …
The list of aliases could go on forever but for those that don’t know who Kevin Leong is, you’ve worked for Russell Simmons for over a decade and a half. You have worked at a bunch of other brands as well. What made you want to branch out and do a brand on your own?
I feel like good work is always appreciated, no matter who you work for. Fashion is a form of art and a form of expression and there are many ways to express how a person feels. So I just wanted to explore other outlets. Working for someone for so long is so great because it actually molds you in to the person that you are and, eventually, you have to become who you are yourself.
Your brand is called Origami, which we all know as the art of paper folding. Why did you choose to name your brand Origami?
My clothing line is based on the art of paper folding and the art of paper folding is origami. I feel origami is a great art form because it represents creating something from nothing. From just your imagination and a square piece of paper, you can create anything. My logo is a grasshopper made out of paper and the way that I construct my garments has a lot of intricate folds in the patterns, so I felt like Origami was a great way to represent that art form. Also when I about 5 years old my grandfather taught me how to do origami and I was fascinated not only by the end result of what he would fold for me, but the actual process as well. I believe when you are creating something you should enjoy the actual process as much as the end result.
Is there a direct source of inspiration for your line outside of the art of paper folding, such as other companies or brands? Maybe even what you see on a daily basis?
There are a lot of brands that I am aware of, being that I am a Creative Director. I do a lot of trend forecast for a lot of brands, but I cannot really pinpoint a specific brand. I would just have to say it is a mixture of high-end luxury sportswear, men’s accessories and a lot of Asian influence, being that I am Chinese and it is my culture. I am a sneaker head as well. I am into the whole aesthetic of limited editions, collectables and arts. I am a graffiti artist and I love music, so it is basically music, art, fashion and high-end luxury items.
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This is the first time you are presenting your collection and it is during the 2011 New York Fashion Week. Where do you see yourself during Fashion Week 2020?
Fashion week 2020, I see myself expanding outside of the realm of fashion. I created this character yellow Kid Slanty kind of to separate myself outside of the role of fashion designer to more of an industrial designer, so I feel like Origami is a movement. In 2020 I see myself branching out to a lot of other categories outside of fashion, while remaining incredibly well dressed.
Speaking of Yellow Kid Slanty, who is he?
Yellow Kid Slanty is the birth of the comic strip genre revisited for 2010 and in 2020, he will probably run for president.
What would his campaign slogan be?
YKS Yellow Kid Slanty – You Know What I’m Saying? Or how about YKS – You Know Slanty!
For your runway show instead of using men for your menswear runway show you decided to use mostly women. What was your idea behind that?
Well a lot of people would see my collection and look at it as strictly menswear, but I really approached my collection through the eyes of unisex garments. I look at a lot runways now and a lot of high-end brands play with sexuality, it’s men wearing women’s clothing, or women wearing men’s clothing. I feel like regardless of sex or gender a good garment is a good garment. So in the vein of playing with that theme of sexuality, I wanted to push the envelope a little bit and being that my men’s clothing is tailored and fit very well like a European or Asian cut, I feel like to have it on females. It works very well and it looks very good; so that is what I wanted to do.
You have worked with a lot of other brands, but we’ve noticed that a lot of other brands have helped you out in contributing to your own show. What brands are you using to help out with the look and feel of your show?
Well, being that the theme originally was the merging of fashion and technology and the fact that I used Tyvek in all of my garments for the last seven or eight years, Dupont, which is a chemical company who makes the Tyvek, is sponsoring my show. Samsung, with the development of their new tablet, I customized some cases for their Galaxy tablets and incorporated an augmented reality app into my show to push the envelope between fashion and technology. Another company that helped me was Swarovski. They sponsored the CFDA Awards and I recently started making a lot of jewelry after being influenced by a trip to China.
I went to see the largest sitting Buddha in the world and I gave a donation to these Buddhist Monks for the statue and they gave me a prayer necklace. I really liked the look and feel of it and I wanted to go back to that temple and get bracelets for my show, but instead I taught myself the art Chinese knotting. I also donated a bunch of bracelets to Art of Life; and when I met with Swarovski the concept was to meet with them, for them to give me crystals and gems to put on the Galaxy tablets to bring them out for the show. Then I saw the actual display in their offices. The chandeliers were beautiful so I had the concept of taking the beads and making the ancient Chinese necklace, Buddhist prayer necklaces, out of them and here we are today.
On top of that, Casio G-Shock is also a sponsor. I had the pleasure of working with them for the 25th anniversary campaign and I worked closely with Exposure PR, which does all their marketing, and they sponsored my show with product. Technology and fashion. What better representation of that than the G-Shock? Everyone loves the style of G-Shock even 25 years later and it is the technology that really separates that watch from any other one.
Sharpie donated a bunch of markers because being that the theme is fashion is art and I have a bunch of artists, reputable graphic artists and painters coming to the show. I made a hand stretch Tyvek canvas and I wanted Sharpie markers for everyone to sign it after they did the red carpet and the step-and-repeat.
Additionally, since the line is a spring/summer delivery for 2012, I find myself wearing a lot of Converse Jack Purcells on the beach with no socks and no laces, kind of like my alternative version of a flip-flop because I don’t wear no thongs! So I reached out to them and I felt that was a good representation for footwear to merchandize my Spring/Summer collection. I wanted to also create a platform for up and coming designers, similar to how Russell had helped me when I was 18, by allowing me to express my creativity, and get thrown in to the industry, so I have brands like Dead Heart and Adeen giving me product that I am going to merchandize accessories into my collection.
Hennessey is my drink of choice. I recently did an event for Chinese New Year for the Year of the Rabbit and I hand painted gold Hennessey privileges bottles. I am scheduled to do an event with them for the launch of another bottle, so they got behind me and they are the alcohol sponsor for my event.
Lastly, In addition to working with Tyvek, the collection also has a money grouping where there is a bunch of shredded money. Most people would think that is pretty crazy being that we are in a recession and all, but what was the idea behind that?
I would like to give a shout out to the U.S. government for devaluing the US dollar! Ever since the late 1800s, when they separated the value of gold from the U.S. currency, I felt like it was really worth nothing. So that gave me the inspiration to shred up money and stuff it in my money vest.
