If you've ever done a double take when passing a particularly psychedelic shirt at Opening Ceremony, we can pretty much guarantee it's a KEENKEEE. Hyoungkee Kim, the designer behind the Korean brand, is known for littering his sportswear with metallic thorns, adorable hedgehogs, octopus tentacles, and crystallized eyes in a dazzling array of colors.
"Whenever I have to come up with some visual ideas for garments and fabrics, I usually think of very random words," Kim says. "My collections so far, like water, classic, crystal, thorn, and octopus, were initiated from simple words, and they were pretty random and spontaneous. Then I start doodling."
Grabbing inspiration from his past and future collections (stemming from "mouse pad," "molecule," "air," "gekko," "lung," and "aloe," among others), Kim came up with five original graphics for Opening Ceremony. Anime eyes overtake a canvas, taken from the manga of Kim's youth, while an angry octopus battles it out among what looks like pastries.
Each graphic took two hours to make, Kim says, and while his sportswear has obtained a cult following, his prints are equally engrossing on a 2D level. He is, after all, getting his MFA at Yale. "It is very hard for me to say that pursuing fashion is exactly my interest, but one thing I enjoy is thinking with physical material," he says. Since he's been a boxer for ten years, sportswear is a natural transition. What better way to confuse your opponents than with a trippy, nearly high-inducing print?
Shop all KEENKEEE HERE![]()
An original graphic created by designer and artist KEENKEEE, inspired by his Spring/Summer 2014 holes, Vine and hedgehog prints
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An original graphic inspired by KEENKEEE's Fall/Winter 2014 octopus print
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An original graphic inspired by KEENKEEE's Fall/Winter 2013 Crystal print
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An original graphic inspired by KEENKEEE's Spring/Summer 2013 TIGEr print![]()
An original graphic inspired by KEENKEEE's Fall/Winter 2012 WATER print
"Whenever I have to come up with some visual ideas for garments and fabrics, I usually think of very random words," Kim says. "My collections so far, like water, classic, crystal, thorn, and octopus, were initiated from simple words, and they were pretty random and spontaneous. Then I start doodling."
Grabbing inspiration from his past and future collections (stemming from "mouse pad," "molecule," "air," "gekko," "lung," and "aloe," among others), Kim came up with five original graphics for Opening Ceremony. Anime eyes overtake a canvas, taken from the manga of Kim's youth, while an angry octopus battles it out among what looks like pastries.
Each graphic took two hours to make, Kim says, and while his sportswear has obtained a cult following, his prints are equally engrossing on a 2D level. He is, after all, getting his MFA at Yale. "It is very hard for me to say that pursuing fashion is exactly my interest, but one thing I enjoy is thinking with physical material," he says. Since he's been a boxer for ten years, sportswear is a natural transition. What better way to confuse your opponents than with a trippy, nearly high-inducing print?
Shop all KEENKEEE HERE
An original graphic created by designer and artist KEENKEEE, inspired by his Spring/Summer 2014 holes, Vine and hedgehog prints
An original graphic inspired by KEENKEEE's Fall/Winter 2014 octopus print
An original graphic inspired by KEENKEEE's Fall/Winter 2013 Crystal print
An original graphic inspired by KEENKEEE's Spring/Summer 2013 TIGEr print
An original graphic inspired by KEENKEEE's Fall/Winter 2012 WATER print